MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD
by ULYFERAL
Summary: A familiar figure returns to the past to impart a mission of doom. If they don't heed his warning their world will be destroyed by invaders from space in just three short years.
1. Chapter 1

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 1: A Last Ditch Effort**

Feral had to stop and lean against the cement wall for a moment as pain and dizziness swept over him as it had so many times these past couple of months. As he rested, he heard a kitten cry, a voice trying to soothe it, other hushed voices talking urgently, and the sounds of frantic construction work going on out of view ahead of him.

When he felt marginally better, he pushed himself off, biting off a moan of pain as his body complained bitterly at moving at all, and trudged slowly down the long corridor until he came to a doorway that led into a huge space that acted as a hangar and repair bay.

To his left, sitting at the rear of the cavernous space on its platform, was the Turbokat. It looked forlorn now since it had been reduced to little more than a skeleton as all of its usable parts had been stripped from it. It couldn't be flown anyway since the skies above Megakat City were now owned and patrolled by the enemy. And very soon after that, the surface became a deadly killing ground.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Just before travel about the city became impossible, Clawson and Furlong had scrambled madly to collect anything of use from the yard and city environs with the help of some new allies.

They concentrated their efforts on procuring survival necessities such as: food, a water source separate from the city, medicines, medical supplies and equipment, personal care supplies, entertainment items to keep people preoccupied and off their dangerous situation, survival manuals, educational books/cds, computers, scrap metal, fuel, furniture, electronic gear, bedding, golf carts for getting about, mattresses, boxes for belongings, flashlights, batteries, and lamps.

They brought all these supplies and any survivors they found to their underground hidden hangar. It was an Old MegaWar II military base, long forgotten by the city. Being as large as a small city and located deep underground, the thick concrete walls were strong enough to hide and keep safe everyone within it, handle their needs, and be defensible.

Unfortunately, since the two vigilantes had only used a small section of it, that which was under the garage they'd worked in so many years, it took them, the survivors, and their allies a few months and, only under the cover of darkness, to make the rest of the enormous place liveable.

But by the time they'd finished, there was a safe water supply, working lights and power, increased security, and working generators. Additionally, with a lot of elbow grease and hard work, many of the offices, meeting rooms, and old barrack areas were converted into temporary living quarters for everyone. The small medical bay was increased in size and an additional kitchen/dining area was set up in one of the repair bays. Storage bays were piled high with supplies, as much as they could stuff in as there were a lot of people to feed and care for. And separate from the personal areas was the old hangar and its rooms the SWAT Kats had used that were now headquarters for the resistance fighters and all their equipment needed to defend what was left of the katizens of Megakat City.

When they were finally forced underground completely, Clawson sealed all the exits, actually blowing up the garage to bury two of the main entrances. Only one was left and that was located underground, connected to the city sewer system which could only be accessed by opening a solid cement door.

Now a year later, they still hadn't been discovered. That was thanks in part to the sound construction of their sanctuary by those long ago builders and the modifications Clawson had added with his additional security measures. But hiding wouldn't save them from complete extinction by the enemy that still relentlessly hunted them.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

He let those memories of their frantic early days fade from his mind as he walked closer to the frenzied activity going on in the center of a huge expanse of floor in this main hangar area where the few remaining defenders worked to try and save their world.

Clawson was wielding a screwdriver while Sgt. Fallon, Feral's longtime assistant, held a section of wiring out of the way for him. He heard but couldn't see Furlong working with an arc welder on the far side of the weird looking machine they were all feverishly building. Just leaving a work bench to the dark tom's left was Dark Kat, carrying some kind of complex device carefully in his massive paws toward Clawson for installation.

Back at the bench DK had left, Feral observed Professor Hackle and Dr. Liter Greenbox building something that he assumed would also be installed in this strange machine. Pouring over a book on Megakat City's past as she sat beside the computer console was Dr. Sinian and sitting next to her, using the computer, was Dr. Konway. They had been very lucky he had survived as they were lean on anyone with medical skills, he thought. Though it hardly mattered now since medicines were running extremely low.

Turning his attention back to the machine, the dark tom walked stiffly and in pain, closer to the machine and offered his assistance. "Anything you need me for?"

"Yeah! Come over here and hold this for me," Came Furlong's voice. Feral walked to the rear of the machine and took hold of a big piece of metal the tabby was attempting to hold and weld by himself.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Time passed with only short bursts of conversation to break the sound of everyone working at different tasks when a noise coming from the secret entrance behind and to one side of the Turbokat caught Feral's attention. Turning his head in that direction, he saw Dr. Viper enter, looking even more worse for wear than when he'd gone out on his scavenging and scouting mission a few days ago. Since his reptilian face was nearly impossible to read, Feral used other clues to tell him what the lizard kat was feeling. The slumped shoulders and fear in Viper's eyes told him the mutant's mission had not been successful and the news he brought was going to be bad.

Severely diminished in numbers, Viper's plant creatures huddled in the alcove of the hidden entrance as they'd been instructed, just as Dark Kats creeplings were required to remain near the ceiling in that same area until needed. Several of the creatures were also at the now defunct entrances as a precaution. Both types of creatures made rather excellent watch dogs, sometimes better than the electronic surveillance system.

With tail dragging somewhat, Viper walked tiredly up to the busily working group, stopping before he could be in the way. He stood there watching them for several minutes before speaking.

"There are no more survivorsssss."

Everyone paused a moment to give him a bleak stare. Entering just in time to hear this stark pronouncement was Calico Briggs, pro tem leader since Manx was killed. She was the only government left and was required to deal with all the many problems that came up when people are forced to live in such tight conditions. Needing to escape those duties for a little while, she had decided to see how much progress had been made in the hangar on the project they had pinned their hopes on.

"So, how bad is it?"

Viper glanced over at her, nothing but emptiness and defeat in his gaze. "Our enemiesss minionsss have leveled more than half the city. My ssswamp liesss dried with dead animalsss laying at it'sss bottom asss doesss Megakat Bay though the city's ressservoir does ssstill hold sssome water, but not for very long at the rate they are draining it. It isss fortunate we have the well but it too won't lassst usss much longer. We have very little time before our world isssss uninhabitable. And to make mattersss worsse, the sssewersss are now impassssable asss our enemy hasss now sssent their minionsss to sssearching for anything left living. I ran into a group of ten near the mussseum. Assss you can sssee, I losst many of my petsss in the attack. I wasss barely able to essscape capture myssself. We are truly trapped here now."

No one made the mistake of asking if the altered Kat had been followed. Viper was too careful and too good at escaping detection which was why he'd been the one doing the scouting in the first place. They also didn't question his flat pronouncement that there was no escape for any of them.

Not having anything to say in response to Viper's dire report, grim looks were shared before all went back to their work ... the strange machine they were building now their only hope.

Viper watched them a bit longer before dragging himself off to get some food and sleep. He was of no use to them as he hadn't any technology skills.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Despite working twenty-fours nonstop on each shift, it still took the group four more days before the machine could be considered complete and ready for use. There would be no time to test it. All that was left was to choose the one who would be brave or suicidal enough to attempt to use it.

"Perhaps we should draw lots among those qualified?" Callie suggested as everyone on the project stood to one side studying the machine.

"No, I or Jake will go," Furlong stated brusquely. His expression uncompromising.

"So noble of you," Dark Kat's drawled sarcastically.

Hissing and raising his fists, Furlong snarled, "I don't hear you volunteering."

Before Dark Kat could make a scathing rebuttal, he was interrupted.

"I'll go," Feral said, his once resonant voice hoarse and low.

Eyes stared at him in stunned shock except for the two omegas. They weren't part of this and had no say but they did trade a glance that showed they weren't surprised by Feral's willingness to do this.

"You can't! You might not survive the trip," Dr. Konway interjected firmly, his expression sad but unyielding.

Feral's mouth firmed into a grim line. "I'm certain I could survive the trip if it succeeds in getting me where it's sent. The fact I'm dying makes me the perfect candidate since if it fails, I won't care. Besides, I'd be quicker believed than any of you and we haven't much time to convince them of what's needed done."

"Except for meeting yourself and causing a paradox," Clawson said, worriedly. This possible problem had been discussed repeatedly during the building of the machine but no resolution had been found to solve it.

"That might not happen," Dark Kat suddenly interjected. All turned to him in surprise. He shrugged. "Since his soul is only loosely attached as he gets closer to death, it's possible he won't suffer being in the same space as his past self."

Razor and Professor Hackle frowned thoughtfully.

"That's only a guess on your part. If you're not right then the mission is lost before it begins!" Furlong argued. "And we have no one else to send that would be believed by those that find our machine. It has to be someone that everyone knows and will listen to."

"That's why it must be me. No one will question it's truly me and time won't be wasted. Anyway, if this thing doesn't succeed, I'll die sooner rather than more slowly and painfully later. And you two," he said, pointing at Clawson and Furlong, "...are needed here. If there is any chance of saving our kind if I fail, you will be the ones to find it," Feral said pragmatically.

"And though my vote doesn't count, I agree with his reasoning. Feral has a much better chance of succeeding, much as it pains me to admit it. Besides, he is of no use here as he grows sicker and eventually dies anyway," Dark Kat stated flatly, his cold eyes giving nothing away on how he truly felt about this.

"I concur," Viper chimed in.

The rest of the group looked at a loss. It felt weird to hear their enemies, who had no love for anyone there and were only concerned for their own survival, advocate Feral to be their last hope to escape their doom. They couldn't really refute Dark Kat's and Feral's logic as much as they'd want to. There was one among their number who could also be pragmatic and it was he that spoke into the tense silence.

"I'm afraid they're right. I may not like it but the logic is irrefutable. Feral is the right person to go." Clawson sighed, shaking his head.

Furlong threw up his paws in resignation and that was the end of the discussion.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Over the next hour, Dr. Sinian briefed Feral on what events were happening in the time zone they hoped he would end up in, Dr. Konway gave him a quick exam then injected him with some of the few precious pain meds still they had left, and finally, Clawson instructed the Enforcer on how to read the instruments, make minor repairs and how to respond to an alarm before cinching Feral into the padded seat of the pod-like machine.

Before the door was shut and sealed, Feral gave everyone a long, final look then nodded he was ready.

"Our hopes go with you Ulysses. Good luck!" Callie called out, tears glimmering in her eyes as Furlong and Clawson shut the door with a loud clang then sealed it.

Inside the claustrophobic container Feral allowed the anguish and grief he'd held inside for so long free reign. He sobbed and cursed his losses then calmed and prayed. All their hopes of survival rode on his shoulders, a truly heavy responsibility. He hoped he'd not over estimated his ability to survive this trip. Please let my luck hold out one more time, he whispered aloud then waited for something to happen. He wasn't ashamed to admit he was terrified as he gripped the bars on each side of his seat.

The watchers moved quickly to stand behind the shield wall Greenbox and Hackle had constructed. Clawson and Dark Kat stood side by side behind a control console and began flipping switches and turning dials, muttering technical jargon to each other.

A loud hissing noise began coupled with a deep hum that rose to a fierce whine as the engine warmed then came up to speed.

When everyone's eardrums felt like they would burst, the machine glowed like a star then disappeared with a loud boom.

They stared at the space where Feral had been moments ago, each wrapped in their own thoughts and memories of how much they had lost and how desperately important Feral's mission was to the survival of their race.


	2. Chapter 2

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 2: Seeing Himself**

"Hey, hand me that spanner will ya, Chance?" Jake called out, his head inside the open nose section of the Turbokat.

"Sure, just a sec." His partner said as he walked to the tool box and retrieved the requested item.

He'd just handed it over when there was a loud boom and brilliant flash of light within the hangar.

With the sound still ringing in their ears and their eyes trying to recover from the light, Chance and Jake cursed and tried to hurriedly see what had invaded their sanctuary.

Eyes still watering, Chance looked toward the open space behind him and saw a weird looking metal pod sitting, steaming slightly, in the center of the floor.

Swiping his eyes, Jake stared tensely at the pod. "We'd better change our clothes before we check this out." He warned.

"Right."

The two circled around the object, avoiding getting close, to reach their lockers in a side area of the hangar. Moments later, changed and wearing their glovatrixs, they carefully approached the pod.

Searching it from all sides, neither could determine its origin nor if it was dangerous. Looking at each other for a moment, they came to a silent decision.

Moving to what appeared to be the front of the pod, Razor figured out how it was sealed, sparing only a moments confusion at the odd familiarity of it, then unlocked the heavy door and opened it.

Both gaped at what was inside.

"Crud! It's Feral!" T-Bone shouted in angry shock.

Razor frowned and stared hard at the unconscious figure slumped inside the pod.

"T-Bone, wait. Somethings not right about this Feral." He finally said moving closer and sniffing the air carefully. He jerked back, a look of horror and shock on his face.

"What's wrong. The Commander forget to shower?" T-Bone said caustically.

"Shut up and smell." Razor suddenly snapped at his partner, his fur rising in tension.

Blinking in stunned surprise at his friend's sharp tone, T-Bone did as he was bid. In seconds, he did exactly the same thing as Razor.

"Crud! He smells like death." The tabby said, his voice hushed.

"Look more closely at him! He's not wearing his uniform, he looks very thin, he's got graying hair. Oh goddess! He's gotta be from the future or another dimension but he most definitely is not from our time." Razor said feeling sick.

Now that he had it pointed out to him, T-Bone shook off his shock and studied the familiar figure. He could now see what Razor meant. This Feral looked bad and it wasn't just the smell.

"Is he alive?" He wondered aloud.

Razor cautiously leaned close and felt for a pulse. "Yes, he is but he's in real bad shape. We better take him to the hospital and call our Feral asap."

T-Bone sighed. Feral was not going to believe this even with the evidence in front of him but he didn't argue with his partner. Very carefully they undid the tom's restraints and the tabby gently picked him up in a firekat's carry and with Razor leading the way they put him in the Turbokat.

Though they were in a hurry, they still had to put the Turbokat's nose section back together. Razor raced as fast as he dared, to do so and soon, some ten minutes later, they were in the air heading for Megakat Medical Center.

As he flew the jet, T-Bone couldn't shake the memory of the scent of death that lingered on the tom. It sent shivers down his spine. What the heck had happened to this Feral to put him in this state? He was afraid to find out.

Razor was thinking the same thing. Whatever sent this ill Feral to risk himself to come here had to be very bad and might mean something terrible had descended on them all. His stomach sank at that suspicion.

He was riding in the cargo bay sitting with the tom since they didn't think it wise to leave him alone for even a moment. He looked down at the tired face and saw deep pain lines. 'What happened to you?' He asked softly but the sick tom remained still, his chest barely moving.

It took a bit of convincing but they finally got the medical staff to understand this wasn't the same Feral as the one who existed here. Though the staff had a hard time believing it at first, once they began their examination they couldn't deny this Kat was much older and very ill which couldn't just happen overnight.

They began aggressive treatment immediately. Relieved that this older Feral was now receiving care, next was contacting their Feral. Razor decided using a doctor to call Feral would be far faster than if either one of them tried. Feral was annoyed and angry but agreed to come immediately. Now all they could do was wait.

The SWAT Kats stayed by the treatment room door and were the first thing Commander Feral saw when he strode angrily down the corridor with his assistant and Felina trailing behind him.

Felina eyed them in confusion, her eyebrows raised questioningly.

Feral's mouth opened but was halted immediately by T-Bone holding up his paw and pointing into the room.

"Look first then talk to us!"

The Commander growled but decided he would see what the heck was going on before reaming out the pair. He gave Sgt Fallon a significant nod to indicate he wanted the pair watched while he and Felina went in to see what was waiting for him in the room.

The vigilantes didn't protest, just continued to lean against the wall with grim looks on their faces. It was that more than anything else that set off alarm bells in Feral. Something really bad was up, he could feel it.

With more than a little trepidation, Feral pushed the door open and stepped into the busy room. Medical personnel surrounded the gurney where a large person lay. Dozens of medical paraphernalia festooned the body. When an opening occurred so that he could see who they were working on, he nearly shouted a denial but managed to clamp his mouth closed in time. It really wasn't a good idea to startle the doctors.

Beside him, Felina gasped aloud, a paw going to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock and her head shaking no in disbelief.

Feral just stared. He was finding this hard to believe but he couldn't deny that someone who looked nearly like him was laying there. He sniffed the air, his nose instantly filling with the reek of medicinal odors, the sharp tang of cleaning solutions and the unmistakable scent of death

Swallowing hard, he stared more closely at his double. He was nude, his lower half covered by a sheet, the dark fur was sprinkled with spots of gray as were the sideburns that were longer than he normally wore them, the hair was thinner and there was no mustache. His face looked utterly weary and thin as if he'd been battling whatever was eating his body for a long time.

Badly shaken and scared to the core but hiding it well, he stepped back out of the room. No matter how much he wanted to deny what his eyes had seen and blame the pair for staging an elaborate hoax at his expense, his every sense and instinct told him this wasn't a joke. The pair had been too grim.....that body in there, too real.

Felina was equally shaken and horrified. The sight of her uncle, even if it wasn't the one beside her, had been too unsettling. Doing something very unusual for her, she pressed herself to her uncle's side like a little kitten and shivered, needing desperately to deny what her eyes had seen and feel her healthy, living Uncle beside her.

Feeling his niece's shaking body leaning against him, he looked down in surprised concern. Her eyes were huge with anxiety and fear, touching his heart with a need to reassure her. Gently, he wrapped a comforting arm around her and hugged her body tightly before letting it go once more. Normally, he would never allow such familiarity to occur while on duty but this circumstance warranted a moment of familial closeness.

Smiling weakly at her uncle, Felina got a hold of herself and stepped away to stand by him like the good officer she was.

T-Bone's eyes had widened behind his mask at the show of warmth from Feral for his niece. He knew Feral cared for Felina in his own way but he wasn't in the habit of showing it openly. It was kinda nice to see it especially under these circumstances. It made him think a little better of the arrogant tom.

Taking a steadying deep breath and letting it out slowly, Feral studied the pair. They eyed him back waiting to see what he would say or do. He couldn't blame them, he did have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions and down their throats rather quickly and, to his mind, they usually deserved it, but not today......no not today.

"Alright, can you tell me what's going on?" He asked softly, eyes flicking back at the room he'd just left.

"Unfortunately, we don't know anymore than you do. What we can tell you is that guy came in some kind of metal pod-like device and appeared in our hangar just under forty minutes ago. There's nothing on it to tell us where it came from but I have a couple of guesses." Razor said quietly, pleased Feral was being calm for once.

"I'm listening."

"This Feral is either from our future or another dimension. I'm leaning toward our future and if I'm right, something really bad is apparently going to happen." The cinnamon tom said grimly.

Feral felt his stomach roll, his suspicions that this was going to be bad were being born out. He had no reason to doubt Razor's guess since this tom had proved himself to be one very smart Kat. That intelligence is what saved the pair from death to many times for him to ignore. He almost suspected that small SWAT Kat to have mild psychic powers because of the way he was always prepared for the unexpected.

He looked back at the room again, this time shuddering a little. If that was him from the future, what must be happening had to be horrific. He swallowed hard and turned back to face the tom as Razor continued.

"We're not going to know for sure until or if this guy recovers enough to tell us why he was willing to make such a suicidal decision. Goddess! I hope he wakes to tell us or I'll never be able to sleep again." Razor said with a shudder of his own.

Feral could only agree with that sentiment. He was about to say something when they were interrupted by a doctor who'd come from the older Feral's room.

"Well we've been able to stabilize him but the damage is too extensive to fix. He's dying and the only thing we can do is make him comfortable enough to enjoy what time he has left which is only a few months." The doctor said sadly.

A chill swept the group as everyone absorbed that terrible news.

"What's wrong with him?" Feral managed to ask after a long moment of silence.

"Radiation poisoning." The doctor said grimly.

Everyone blinked in shock at that. Radiation vaccines were readily available. Such a thing as dying from it was usually unheard of. This just told them things were even worse than they'd imagined.

"Thanks for doing what you can for him." Feral said unhappily. "Doctor, it's vitally important that we know the moment he's able to speak. He's apparently risked his life to come here for some reason and we need to know what that reason is."

"Of course, Commander. Just leave me a number where to reach you directly." The doctor agreed quietly.

Feral pulled out a business card and handed it over. The doctor nodded and returned to the treatment room. The dark tom looked back at the vigilantes.

"For now, I think you should bring that pod over to Enforcer Headquarters to be examined. Perhaps it will give us some clue as to where he came from." Feral ordered.

"Yeah, good idea. Just for your information, though, the thing looks like I had a paw in its construction." Razor told him grimly.

Feral's shoulders tightened. 'Oh, this is just getting better all the time.' "Then it sounds as if we worked together to pull this stunt off. You better stay and look at it with my team."

"Good idea. We'll go get that thing and bring it right away." T-Bone said, speaking for the first time since Feral came back into the corridor.

Feral nodded, turning to leave with his sergeant on his heels. Felina gave them a wane smile as she hurried to keep pace with her uncle.

"Let's get going, buddy." T-Bone said, feeling uneasy about this whole thing.

Razor just nodded and the two hurried back to the Turbokat parked on a nearby building.


	3. Chapter 3

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 3: The Messenger Awakens**

It took some effort for T-Bone and Razor to muscle the pod aboard the Turbokat but they finally managed it without damaging it.

They arrived at Enforcer Headquarters an hour after they'd left the hospital. The tower notified Feral of their arrival so he was on hand when the jet landed smooth as silk near the hangar doors.

A team of enforcer scientists came hurrying forward as the ramp began to lower bringing the proper equipment to offload the machine and soon the pod was being rolled carefully into the BioTech Labs.

Dr. Konway, head of the lab, came to see what was up and was shocked to learn a duplicate Feral had arrived in this pod-like device. Curious, he checked on the forensic study every now and then as Razor and Feral's CSI went over the pod with a fine toothed comb though they were very careful not to alter anything. No one was sure if the other Feral needed it to return home so they used x-rays and other non-intrusive methods to determine how it was made and by who if possible.

Razor was grim-faced when the examination was over and the group gathered to discuss their findings in Konway's conference room. Feral, who had left word to notify him when they were through, arrived to sit in on the briefing. The CSI personnel deferred to Razor to give the report of findings since it turned out he had a lot to do with the thing's construction.

"This pod was made with parts from the Turbokat. There's no doubt of that. My signature is all over that thing but there's also another's design abilities blended with mine but for the life of me, I can't determine who assisted me."

"So you are fairly certain this is from our future?" Feral asked heavily.

"Oh yes. I no longer have any doubt of that. Though I can't give an exact time period, we figured it has to be approximately ten years in the future. We might get a closer idea by asking the doctors treating your future self, how old they think he is." Razor concluded.

Feral sighed and said, "Yeah, good idea. I'll ask them. I haven't received word on any improvement in his condition so I guess there's nothing else we can do right now. I'll call you when I hear anything from the hospital."

"Roger. We'll head home then." T-Bone concurred turning to leave. Razor followed, albeit reluctantly. He was itching to take the thing apart but knew he couldn't and the identity of the other designer was driving him batty.

His mind was filled with possible scenarios as to why he would build such a thing and none of them were very nice. He shoved those thoughts aside as he hurried after his partner.

Feral stared at the pod, his mind picturing himself sitting in that tight space, knowing he could die making the attempt but determined to take the risk anyway. That more than anything, told him just how important this mission was. It had to be on a scale of 'the end of life as we know it' kind of urgency for him to, even remotely, be willing to do something so insane.

He shuddered as his feeling of unease increased. 'Kat's Alive! I hope he wakes soon.' He thought worriedly as he left for his office.

In the intensive care ward at Megakat Medical Center, the future Feral still lay unconscious. His mind, however, drifted fitfully, bursts of images would pull at him, forcing him to live again, just for an instant, the horrors of the past few years. He fervently wished he could change the channel as too many of the images were very painful and he had no desire to live them again. But it was as his mind was stuck in a rut.

He watched helplessly as his niece died in his arms yet again, the invasion that whittled the worlds population over a period of years until there were only pockets of survivors left and of those, too many sick of diseases or injuries they had no medical supplies or hospitals to aid them except to watch helplessly as they died in droves.

In his mind he whimpered and writhed but outwardly his body lay still as death. He sobbed again at all his losses, the compromises he had to make with their enemies to survive the onslaught and still they were losing. That final knowledge helped him break free of his tormenting dreams and wake up.

He blinked rapidly to clear his eyes of gunk then stared around him. His nose told him where he was and he sighed in relief. It was a hospital which meant he had made it to the past. Now he needed to tell his past self what was going to happen. Before he could make the effort to reach for the call button a nurse bustled in quickly.

"Hello, sir. Here let me help you sit up a bit and get you some water." He said gently as he raised the head of the bed a little then turned to pour some water into a cup with a straw and offered it.

Feral sucked the cool liquid down greedily. Gods, fresh, clean water! How heavenly it tasted. It had been so long since he'd had anything like this.

"Easy! Don't want you to throw it back up.....that's it. You rest a moment and catch your breath while I notify people you are awake." The nurse said briskly.

Feral just nodded. He wasn't surprised at that so relaxed and looked around. It felt so good to lay in a clean, soft bed and be cared for. He usually hated hospitals but after being so deprived of every normal thing they had taken for granted in life, he no longer chaffed at being in a hospital bed. Felina would have been shocked by his attitude.

Tears sprang to his eyes at the memory of his niece. He swallowed quickly, not wanting to give into the still painful memory of her loss. He took deep, even breathes to calm himself as he'd been taught by Callie. His grief had been so overwhelming he'd hidden himself away long enough for the other's to notice. She finally decided someone should help him.

"_Commander?........Ulysses?" She called softly, stepping into his tight little cubicle he called his own._

_He was faced toward the wall on a cot, covered with a thin blanket, and never responded. Callie sighed to herself and moved to sit on an overturned wooden crate that acted as a seat. She gently reached out and caressed the dark tom's face soothingly, doing nothing else and keeping silent. She looked around the small area and saw the signs of someone who liked their things tidy and neat. _

_Against the wall was a stack of boxes on their sides. These were being used to hold personal care items, clothes, a few dishes, and books. There were also a small stack of sealed boxes of his more personal items he'd brought when he evacuated his apartment. She returned her eyes to the grief-stricken tom and continued to give what comfort she could._

_It took a long while before Feral finally responded by moaning then turning his head enough to see her. Red-rimmed eyes glimmered in the dim light from the constant running lamps that ran along the ceiling outside his cubby._

"_I'm so sorry, Ulysses. I know nothing I can say will ease the pain of loss for you. However, when you're willing, I'll teach you some deep breathing exercises that will help center you and let you go past the grief to function as you need to. That is what she would want you to do." Callie said gently._

_He couldn't speak for a long moment but then he swallowed and said hoarsely, "Thank you."_

"_You're welcome."_

_They sat there in the near dark for some time after that. She kept her word and after a few lessons, he found he could think clearer. He'd been grateful to her for that act of kindness._

His brief trip down memory lane was interrupted by the arrival of a group of people he was glad to see.

When the hospital had called him, his heart leaped with fear and hope. He quickly had Sgt Fallon summon the SWAT Kats then with Felina along, they hurried to his car and raced to the hospital. The SWAT Kats had gotten there nearly at the same time and met them outside the future Feral's room.

The doctor halted them before they could enter.

"I know what my patient has to say is extremely important but I just wanted to warn you, his condition is very poor. I may have been too optimistic about the amount of time he has left." He said heavily. "According to his tests this morning, he may have less than a month left."

Everyone gave a collective sigh of dismay.

"Thank you doctor. Have you told him yet?" Feral asked quietly.

The doctor shook his head. "I haven't even seen him awake yet. I can tell him or you can."

"I'll tell him but I suspect he already knows it." Feral said heavily. The doctor nodded in understanding and left them.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Feral opened the door and they all trooped in. Future Feral had been raised up so he saw them enter. A look of relief crossed his tired face.

"So glad you all managed to be here at the same time. I......" He began to speak, his voice low and hoarse but he stopped and stared when he saw Felina. "Oh god! Felina!" He cried brokenly, his arms reaching out for her desperately.

Felina was stunned by the mixed look of grief and relief written on this Feral's face. She felt her heart tighten as she realized something bad must have happened to her future self for her uncle to show such intense emotion in front of others.

Not able to bear seeing such need on his face, she moved close and gave the sick tom a tight comforting hug. It was a very long moment before he could let her go.

The rest stood restless and uneasy at this unusual display. It only made them more concerned about what was waiting for them in the future. Feral's heart clenched painfully as he suspected he'd lost his niece in the future.

Finally letting go, Feral sighed and stared up at his beloved niece. "If nothing else, this trip allowed me to see you once more. I'm sorry if I upset you but your loss was the final straw for me and more than I could bear." He told her softly, still holding her paw in his.

Felina tightened her grip a moment as this tom confirmed her worst fears.

"So things are that bad, huh? That sucks. We're all ears to hear what it is you have to tell us and how we can stop it." T-Bone spoke up, upset to learn his favorite fem was doomed in the future and wanting to prevent it.

"Yes." The future Feral said bitterly. "I only hope the information I've brought you will be enough to help you find a way to save us all or I'll die just ahead of the rest of you."

A cold chill settled over all of them at that pronouncement.


	4. Chapter 4

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 4: A Tale of Invasion**

"I hope you're ready to take notes. I'll try to be brief but a lot has happened and I'll have to try and cover all of it for you to have a clearer picture of what went on." Future Feral said, licking his lips. "Felina could you give me more water." He asked softly.

She released his paw and went to the table to get his cup and refilled it. Bringing it close, she held it as he took a long sip, a look of bliss on his face. When he was through she set it back down and took his paw again.

"You have no idea how good fresh water tastes when all you've had is reprocessed water for too long. You designed an excellent water purifying system, Razor, but it doesn't taste very good." He commented.

Razor stared at him in shock. "I made a water purification system? Whatever for?"

"Because we had no access to clean water any longer. If I hadn't made it here it would be a race to see if we would run out of water, food or Kats first." He sighed wearily.

The group looked at each other tensely. "I think you better start at the beginning and we'll try to not to interrupt you too much." Razor said grimly.

"Hmm, the beginning....yeah, good idea." Future Feral rumbled and tried to get comfortable. "But first you need to tell me what year this is."

"It's the year two thousand and one." Razor said promptly.

Future Feral blinked in surprise. "Really? Well isn't that a kick. We only intended for me to go about five years back and instead I've gone some eight years instead."

"So you're from eight years in the future?" T-Bone asked to confirm he'd heard right.

"Yeah. We figured if I could go back far enough, you would have enough time to prepare for what is to come."

"And what is that?" Feral asked abruptly, speaking for the first time. It was very unsettling to be questioning himself and hearing his own voice echo back at him.

"Death!" Future Feral growled then coughed violently. He couldn't seem to stop for several minutes.

Worried, Sgt. Fallon went and found a doctor quickly. Felina pounded on his back to see if that would help. Everyone else was tense with concern and not liking the feelings of helplessness as they watched future Feral gasp and choke for air.

A doctor and nurse hurried in. The nurse handed the doctor various items as well as injected other things per his orders. The drugs began to work as well as a dose of pure oxygen by mask for a few minutes. When future Feral's coloring returned somewhat to normal and his breathing was easier, the doctor removed the mask but inserted a nasal cannula instead.

"Stop and sip some of this electrolyte mixture whenever your throat gets dry. It will ease it better than water." He told Feral then turned to the group.

"I know what he has to say is a matter of life and death but pushing him too much will insure you don't hear it at all, so please, give him at least a ten minute break of no talking." He warned.

"Alright, doctor. I'll be the time keeper and insure we halt." Felina promised.

The doctor nodded then he and the nurse took their leave.

"Sorry." He said hoarsely, his voice low and strained. They had to listen closely to hear him clearly.

"Don't trouble yourself. I'd tell you to rest but obviously time is not on our side but do take it slow and drink often." Feral said soothingly.

Future Feral nodded, he was exhausted but they needed to hear this so he ignored his discomfort and forged on. "Well it happened on a cloudy, miserable day. I was doing reports as usual when alarms went off everywhere. Sgt Fallon rushed in and had me look out the window. We both stared in horror as the sky filled with small, fast moving blue ships that looked like little needles. But there was nothing little about their ammunition. Buildings exploded into dust with one blast of their odd blue rays. I quickly ordered us to go to DEFCON Alpha

I took to the air with four squadrons and at least eight of my ground force units. The SWAT Kats joined us and the air was filled with every kind of ammunition. We managed to beat off that attack and tried to figure out who these things were and where they had come from but there was no debris left from the destroyed invaders to study, it was then we learned the entire world had been attacked simultaneously. For the first time, Megakat City was not the center of an attack.

It was then we realized we could be facing annihilation from space. Checking with the observatory, we'd found out their telescope hadn't been pointed at that quadrant of space. Once they learned of the attack, they began monitoring space. About twelve hours later they contacted me and said they'd seen an enormous fleet of those mini ships congregating about a light year from us. They seemed to be waiting for something.

It was Razor who first voiced his suspicions that the first attack was to test our defenses and that the enemy could be waiting for a bigger force to take us out in one sweep. I and the others had to agree he could be right. Planning accordingly, we alerted all the military around the world and had all non-combatants evacuated to the mountains and deep underground. We didn't know how much time we had, so I had Mayor Manx institute martial law so evacuation could be conducted more swiftly and efficiently."

Felina called a halt. "He needs to rest his voice." She reminded them then gave future Feral some of the special liquid to drink then ordered him to stay silent for ten minutes.

While he waited, Feral wished he could pretend none of this was happening. What his future self was telling them was nothing short of complete eradication of the Kat race. He shuddered inside and closed his eyes.

Razor swallowed nervously. 'Oh my God! How do we fend off such a force?' He wondered miserably.

'We're so dead! If we don't come up with something else, we'll have no future.' T-Bone thought fearfully. He wasn't ashamed to say he was scared to death and didn't want to hear more but knew there was no hiding from the truth.

Felina nodded her head reluctantly that future Feral could continue his story after he had sipped a little more liquid.

"Once we had the population evacuating, I with the SWAT Kats, began to gather every inventor, weapons manufacturer, mercenary groups, private armies, security groups, and my enforcers to a major meeting. We discussed ways to try to defend our world, no idea was outlandish. When the enemy came at us again we were as prepared as we could be and still it wasn't enough.

Our nightmare began when the needle ships swept down on us late at night at least a month after the first attack. They destroyed all our refineries, nuclear plants, factories, military bases, the airport, MASA, Megakat Defense Center, Pumadyne, city hall and the Biochemical Lab. The devastation was unimaginable.

Everything we threw at them only succeeded in holding them off for short periods of time but they would quickly regroup and attack hours, days, or weeks later. Gradually it whittled down all our defenses. We soon had to be much more creative. Professor Hackle had managed to remain hidden and had mass produced robots as fast as he was able and got word to us about them.

We, meaning the enforcers and any military and civilian forces that were left besides the SWAT Kats, used the robots to take out the enemy in lightning attacks. That actually worked for awhile but the enemy had been waiting for something. Huge city size ships arrived a year after the engagement began and hovered over every major city in the world.

These city size ships began to systematically eliminate all our aircraft over the next couple of years but we still managed to fight back because we again changed tactics. This time we used our own personal enemies in the next stage of the war. Dark Kat, Viper, Hard Drive, and Turmoil came from wherever they had been hiding and joined forces with us.

It seemed we were finally making headway with Dark Kat's bombs, Viper's Plant Army and Turmoil's fighter pilots. But our few victories were hollow ones. After managing a brief six month break where we dared to think we might have routed the aliens, we were proven heartbreakingly wrong.

Six months to the day, after our major push to oust the invaders and two years after the war began, they returned with even more devastating weapons. Whole sections of the city was wiped out leaving just bare earth where large clusters of buildings had been. They also wiped out millions of Kats that had been hiding underground by collapsing the tunnels.

Next they sent down some kind of walking hard shelled creature that was impervious to our weapon's fire. These things began to seek out and slaughter the non-combatants wherever they hid. Mayor Manx and Ann Gora fell victim during that time.

The few defenders left, pulled back. The sky was the enemy's now as was the open ground. We were forced to go underground and the SWAT Kats were the ones to provide us shelter in their secret hangar. By this time, their secret identities meant nothing. We were all Kats trying to survive. They converted their hidden base into a sanctuary where the survivors and defenders could live safely."

Future Feral paused to drink and catch his breath. T-Bone and Razor stared at him in shocked surprise. This meant Feral knew who they really were but that it didn't matter since the world as they knew it was gone. It was nearly impossible for them to fathom such a situation but the evidence was laying there in front of them.

Feral stared over at the vigilantes in bemused thought. 'So in the future I will know who they are.' Then he shook his head, 'It hardly matters, apparently the world was coming down around our ears and such things held no importance.'

His attention was drawn back to the weak voice that continued his harrowing tale. "It was Hard Drive that managed to discover the hard shelled creatures weren't impervious to a sudden burst of energy through their bodies. They had trapped him and he had turned to energy and passed through one of them to escape. It burst the thing to pieces. Professor Hackle and Razor duplicated his surge coat but unfortunately, the volunteers who tried it were unable to safely handle the energy load and were killed in the attempt. Apparently, only Hard Drive could take that kind of thing and use it.

Needless to say, we were forced to use him to keep our meager force of defenders alive but it was a losing battle and Hard Drive was becoming increasingly exhausted. It was he who came up with the idea to use one of the alien's communication devices to send himself up to the mother ship and find out what their weaknesses might be.

It was a suicidal idea but the war had lasted now five years and we were being slaughtered. Turmoil was dead, we were down to barely two hundred defenders and only about a hundred thousand innocent survivors existed under appalling conditions out of one point six billion that had lived in the city. Of those, many were dying from lack of medical care, proper nutrition and water, and some of the defenders, like myself, had been exposed to radiation and were slowly dying. During the attack that had sealed my doom, Felina had been killed trying to protect me."

A coughing fit suddenly halted future Feral's voice and Felina quickly gave him fluids to ease his throat. Everyone waited for some twenty minutes for him to recover enough to go on. There were sick looks traded among the four listeners.

Felina tried not to think about how she had met her end. It was enough to know they had another chance to make sure that future never happened.

Struggling valiantly to continue, future Feral said, "There was no choice. We wished him luck and he vanished. It would take him over six hours before he managed to return, more dead than alive, but the information he brought back was priceless. Dr. Sinian and Dr. Konway took care of Hard Drive but he only lived a few hours before he died. He gave his life to try and save what was left of our race and we weren't going to squander it.

Razor and Dark Kat began to build that pod that brought me here, from bits and pieces of alien technology. It was imperative that we contact our past selves to try and prevent this war from ever happening, if that were at all possible.

We no longer tried to fight the aliens, preferring to stay in our underground shelter and survive the best we could day to day while the machine was being built. Dark Kat's creeplings and what was left of Viper's plants guarded the only entrance left to our sanctuary. Razor had sealed all the others. I helped where I could but I was growing sicker by the day.

Dr. Viper began going out regularly to find survivors and bring them back. Food and water were becoming scare so Razor designed a water capture and purification system to solve one of our problems while Viper managed to find stashes of food in stores that hadn't been destroyed but those were rapidly disappearing. Before I left, he had come back from one such foray to report the hard shelled creatures were in the sewer system and he was having a harder time avoiding them. He also said there were no more survivors.

It was then we knew this trip to the past was now our only option and I volunteered because if I failed, it wouldn't matter since I was dying anyway." He finished, closing his eyes and panting.

Felina offered him the special drink but he was too exhausted to take it. He just lay there trying to breath, his body limp. Before they realized it, he had passed out completely.

"Crud! He's finally gotten to the part of what can save us and now he's out cold again." T-Bone said anxiously.

"It's not his fault. He's just too weak." Felina said hotly.

"We're not blaming him at all, Lieutenant. We're just worried he might not be able to tell us what his message is." Razor soothed her gently.

Feral looked down at himself and winced in sympathy. His future self looked really bad, his skin was very pale under his dark fur and lines of pain showed plainly on his tired face. He turned away, unable to look at that image any longer.

Taking a deep breath, he focused on everything his future self had said so far. His thoughts were interrupted by Razor who also had been going over everything he'd heard over the last hour.

"He said they tried everything they knew but there was one thing they didn't try." He said slowly.

Everyone looked at Razor in surprise and cautious hope.

"And what might that be?" Feral asked carefully.

"Magic!"


	5. Chapter 5

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 5: The Plan**

"How can we be sure they hadn't tried that as well?" Feral demanded after a stunned silence.

Razor grimaced. "Because its not something we as a technological society would think of. It's only logical to assume this might be the one thing left that might work against our enemy." He said shrugging his shoulders. "I really can't think of anything else that they hadn't already tried."

Feral frowned, not really convinced but willing to listen. "Alright, for the sake of argument, say that's what he was going to tell us, just how do we utilize something we no longer believe in or use? As you said we don't practice magic any longer."

"That's not completely true, Commander. Yes, most of society doesn't do magic but there is a small minority that is descended from those ancient wizards and still believe and practice those arts." Razor pointed out.

Feral rolled his eyes but Felina had a more thoughtful look on her face.

"You're right Razor. I remember reading about a small clan in the mountains north of here that a reporter did a story on. They claimed to be descended from the wizards and witches of medieval times.

Razor nodded. "There may be others as well, Lieutenant. I'm sure if we have Dr. Sinian do some genealogical research, she might find other families who have the trait for magic." He said then added. "It's suspected, at least the Pastmaster is certain of it, that Ms. Briggs is descended from Queen Callista herself who was a very powerful wizard."

Feral blinked in surprise at that. "Wherever did you get that idea and how do you know this Queen was a wizard?" He asked, frowning.

"When the Pastmaster sent us in the past that one time, remember? We met Queen Callista and she is the spitting image of Ms. Briggs. Also, the Pastmaster had mentioned it once when he captured her on his last visit here." T-Bone told him.

The Commander eyed them both for a moment in amazement then sighed. He looked over at his future self who had not regained consciousness during their discussion.

"I think we're really reaching here but we don't seem to have any choice until he wakes again. Might as well use the time doing something, even if it sounds totally outlandish to me. But I intend to get with the scientific community and see if there is anything else they can come up with now that we have more information and time to work on it." He decided.

"I certainly agree with that. Just sitting around waiting would drive me crazy right now." T-Bone grumbled tensely. "So how do you want to get started on this, Razor?"

"Wait!" Feral broke in before Razor could answer. "Everyone we need to work with to solve this problem must be required to maintain a high level of secrecy and news blackout. We do not want a panic among the populace. We keep the number of those in the know as few as possible. Agreed?"

Trading significant glances, the SWAT Kats nodded to each other then turned to Feral again.

"I agree that would be wise. I happen to know a couple of people who belong to a coven. T-Bone and I will get in contact with them and see if they will help us connect with others. Do you want us to brief Dr. Sinian?" Razor asked.

Feral paused before he answered. It didn't set well with him that he was allowing the SWAT Kats to be part of this operation but he quickly shoved that irritation away. Their antagonism had no place in this emergency. It was obvious they had already combined forces in the future, they were just going to do it much sooner.

Straightening his shoulders, he eyed them both. "We are under a state of emergency as of this moment. Because of this, you are part of the task force to save our world. That being said, I require you to keep in constant contact with me directly so that we don't' work at cross purposes nor duplicate efforts." He paused to see how they were taking this unusual step by him. Both tom's body language told him, he had surprised them.

"I admit, I'm amazed by your willingness to set aside our differences but knowing what we face only a short time in the future, I would have been more surprised if you had continued your animosity. That being said, we're with you one hundred percent. The hatchet is buried until this emergency is over." Razor said solemnly. T-Bone nodded his agreement to that statement.

Nodding grimly at their willingness, Feral pressed on with the things that needed to be done. "I'm glad we understand each other. Upper level officers will be briefed on the emergency and your status so you will not be hampered in your job. Now here's the plan; yes....go ahead and brief Dr. Sinian. I'll send a detachment to assist her in her research. My assistant, Sgt Fallon will act as liaison and runner from all parties to me so no phones will be used to pass this information. I will create a small task force made up of you, scientists, wizards, and my own officers with me as the focal point for all the information everyone gathers. We'll sift through the data quickly and devise a new plan of attack. Any thing I missed?" He asked, anxious to get the ball rolling. The feeling of time hurrying by making him tense.

Still a little stunned by Feral's willingness to work together, Razor did have one more addition to Feral's, admittedly, thorough plan. "Yes, contact Professor Hackle. His robots apparently were helpful. Now that we have enough time, he should receive help to produce as many robots he can for use in defense and evacuating the populace if its needed so that your enforcers can be utilized in other ways. But, one proviso! He must insure the robots can't be corrupted by anyone. We were forced to endure a world with the Metallikats in charge with robots ruling the city. It was hideous and nearly as bad as the threat we face now." He said firmly.

Feral blinked in shock at that information. The pair had never spoken about that trip to the future. He'd only heard it was the future when the Pastmaster shouted it when he stole them away but had heard no more about it. The thought of a world ruled by robots sent a shudder down his spine.

"Noted. I'll make sure he knows that and you're right, those robots of his could give us the edge we needed at the beginning rather than too late as happened before." He said grimly. "Anything else?"

"My only concern is our omega problem. If they act up while we're trying to save the world, it would seriously prevent us from getting ready in time." T-Bone suddenly interjected.

The room went still as everyone realized they might have to do something else they never dreamed of.

"It wasn't until the war was being lost that they willingly helped. They won't believe us right now." Felina said.

"You're right about that." Feral grimaced unhappily. "I hate to say it but we'll have to just do the best we can and pray those idiots don't bother us for awhile."

"Yeah, good luck with that." T-Bone said gloomily.

Feral could only shrug his shoulders. There was really nothing they could do on that front at the moment.

"Hey! Perhaps, we do have a way to stop them!" Razor said suddenly, his face reflecting excitement. "Learning to use magic and the Professor's robots might help us bring down the omegas so that we can focus on saving our world. Also, if we somehow manage to convince them of the danger, they might be willing to aid us. There is no doubt Dark Kat is brilliant if insane as is Dr. Viper and don't forget Hard Drive's ability. Apparently, he's not completely unredeemable since he did give his life to save his world."

The others stared at him in amazement.

Feral was the first to speak. "That's reaching, even for you. But I have to admit, it could work. Well we'll just have to see when we've managed to gather all the info we can and if they show up."

"At least you didn't throw the idea out instantly." Razor snorted in mild amusement.

"Knowing what we face, I can hardly be that stupid. Obviously, anything is fair game no matter how far fetched it is. Our world's survival depends on our checking out absolutely everything no matter how outrageous so believe me, I'm going to be very open minded." Feral said sardonically.

"Good mindset to have and with that, we better scoot and get this show on the road." Razor said turning to the door. T-Bone was on his heels.

"Would you wait for me outside, Sgt Fallon." Feral requested of his assistant.

"Of course, sir." The sturdy, older enforcer said briskly and went out the door letting it close behind him softly.

"Felina, I need you to stay here. If he has anything new to give us, get it to me through Sgt Fallon. Just call and say you need a pickup when you call me and I'll send him to collect. You'll be his guard as well and I'll send a pair of enforcers to guard outside the door as well. I need to instruct the staff to limit who knows about him and to maintain secrecy." He ordered her. He looked down at himself for a moment longer then said more softly. "I know this will be hard for you, but I don't want him to be alone and it's obvious he draws comfort from you."

"I understand uncle. It's.......I just feel really odd about this but I understand the need." She said quietly, gently caressing the older tom's paw.

"Thank you." Feral murmured then did something unusual for him. He went to her and gave her another warm hug. She gasped in surprise but hugged him back then when he pulled away, she eyed him questioningly.

"I just wanted you to know, I'll do everything in my power to prevent that from happening to me." He said softly then turned and left the room quickly.

She stared at the door for a long moment before pulling a chair to the side of the bed and taking up her post.


	6. Chapter 6

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 6: Research and Gathering Team Players**

Knowing what they faced, Feral had perhaps the hardest job of all the members of the task force, convincing his peers in other countries and their leaders that a threat that would wipe them out completely was coming for them from just a few years in the future and that it was himself that had risked coming to the past to warn them.

'Yeah, that will go over really well.' He grumbled to himself but knew he had to do convince them and quickly. He ran through his mind what he needed to say and how he was going to make them believe him.

Fortunately, he did have one ace in the hole, everyone knew what kind of craziness plagued Megakat City. Most still thought they were stories made up by the media but those that had visited knew otherwise. Nothing was too fantastic or far fetched of the things that happened here. No one could make up that much stuff or suffer that much loss. A lot of the countries he needed to speak with were the ones they ordered their equipment and supplies from so they were very aware of dangerous of doing business with Megakat City.

So he knew out of the some, one hundred countries on the planet, only about twenty would not believe him and they would be the hardest to convince. He wouldn't know for certain until he tried to warn them and get their assistance.

Reaching his office with Sgt Fallon on his heels, he stopped by his secretary's desk.

"Mary. I need you to contact the military leaders of every country around the world. Impress on them the extreme urgency of the call. I know some will be unavailable due to time differences, so for them, leave a message for a conference call at ten pm our time tonight," he instructed.

"When you've managed to get all the group that's closer to our time zone contacted set up a conference call for eight am tomorrow morning. Make a list of all those you reached and one for those you haven't heard from yet. On the list allow space for me to make notes after each individual. I'm sorry to ask this of you but can you stay late tonight?" He asked.

"Yes sir. If you need me then I'll cancel my plans which aren't that important and stay here for whatever you need," she said without hesitation.

Feral flashed her a grateful smile. "You'll be paid overtime of course. Thank you. As of right now, this has priority over anything else and I mean everything, understood?"

"Yes sir," Mary said with a firm nod. Whatever was going on, it must be very grave. Even the attacks by the omega didn't make the Commander look so grim.

"Good! Now no word of this is to be released to anyone except the list of people I'll be giving you in a few minutes. This is of the highest security clearance so you should make the calls in a secured room so no one can overhear you." He finished his orders. She nodded her head in understanding.

Feral went on into his office, shucked his coat then went up the pedestal to his desk.

"Alright let's figure out what we're going to say to them to make them believe and not think we've gone around the bend." He sighed as he booted up his computer.

Fallon grimaced inwardly as he removed his coat and hung it up then went to stand by his superior to lend his assistance. 'This should be fun.' He thought sourly. He was certain they both would have headaches by the time they finally managed to convince over a hundred different personalities that they weren't loony. It was going to be a very long day and night.

T-Bone and Razor swung across to the building where they had parked their jet, each lost in their own thoughts. In very little time, T-Bone had the jet winging its way home.

"So what do you want to do first, buddy?"

"I need to make some calls before we head out again." Razor said lost in thought as he planned what he would say to his contacts. "I just hope I can convince my friends that the matter is serious and not a joke." He sighed worriedly.

"Hey, Razor, all we can do is try. We're not in the habit of lying to people so I hope they remember that when we spout this craziness." T-Bone said only half reassuringly.

"Yeah, that's true but this is so far out for any sane person to believe that I wouldn't blame them for slamming the phone down in my ear," his partner said worriedly.

"Nothing we can do about that except be persistent and if necessary, show them the other Feral," T-Bone said with a shrug of his shoulders.

His partner only sighed and said nothing more. Less than ten minutes later they were rushing down the ramp into their secret hangar. Stopping the jet smoothly on its turntable, T-Bone shut down the engines and waited until they raised up to the main hangar floor.

When they stopped, he shot the canopy open then jumped down to the floor followed by his friend.

"Should we stay dressed?" T-Bone asked, turning to look at his partner.

Razor's face was frowning in concentration. "Huh?" He asked snapping his attention to the tabby when he realized he'd asked him something.

"G-suit or change?"

"Oh, keep them on," Razor said absently. "I'm going to see if I can get us an appointment with Dr. Sinian this afternoon then try to reach my friends," the cinnamon tom muttered distractedly as he headed for the phone at his work station.

"Hey," T-Bone said, catching his friend by the collar and halting him. "Let me contact Sinian. I don't want to be just sitting around while you're on the phone."

"Good idea. Use your cell." Razor said without missing a beat, T-Bone releasing him so he could hurry on.

Shaking his head after his partner, T-Bone pulled out his cell and placed a call with Dr. Sinian. Some minutes later, he caught a break, Sinian said to come on over and she'd speak with them. Pleased, he closed his cell and went over to his partner. He stood listening as Razor cajoled and begged to be heard by whoever was on the other end of the line.

It took him a good fifteen minutes more before he hung up the phone looking marginally optimistic. He looked up and saw his friend was standing close and waiting.

"Well, they'll speak with me though they were still leery about being seen with a SWAT Kat. Unfortunately, they insist on me....alone."

"Not a problem. You go see them and I'll go see Sinian. She said to come on over so we'll be able to get this done much quicker by splitting up." The tabby said with a shrug.

"Okay, that works for me." Razor said, relieved his partner wasn't miffed about being shut out and he was right anyway. They would get two things done at once. "I'll take a cyclotron."

T-Bone nodded and headed for the jet as Razor went to another area to mount his cyclotron. As he was putting his helmet on and starting the engine, behind him the Turbokat roared to life and vanished from view as the table went down.

Razor raced out the alternate exit and headed into the mountains while T-Bone flew toward the Megakat Natural History Museum.

The Turbokat landed just behind the museum so as not to cause too much of a commotion from the visitors that thronged the place around this time of day. T-Bone quietly entered from the roof and made his way to Dr. Sinian's office without being seen.

Abi Sinian was just leaving her office when a colorful uniform caught her eye coming around the far corner from her door. She blinked in surprise but stayed put allowing the powerful tom to come to her.

Without speaking, T-Bone gestured back into her office. She nodded and stepped back and allowed him to stride past her and into the outer office, past her surprised secretary and on into her inner sanctum.

T-Bone barely glanced at the book lined office as he waited for her to close the door and immediately launched into why he was there.

"What I have to tell you is on a par with some of the most deadliest things that have happened to Megakat City that we barely managed to survive. Only in this case we are not surviving and our world will be completely barren and dead eight years from now and we have only three years to prepare before their arrival," T-Bone said grimly.

Sinian just stared at him in confused consternation. "Could you define that a little more? How do you know this, for example?" She asked after a moments thought.

"Yesterday, Razor and I received a very odd and dangerous present from the future. It was a big metal pod-like device that future Razor and Dark Kat built for the sole purpose of sending someone back into the past to save our kind from aliens attempting to wipe us out. The volunteer was Feral who is dying from radiation poisoning. He's presently resting under protective and heavy security at Megakat Memorial Hospital," the big tabby explained briefly.

She gaped at him in shock. "Oh my! That's awful. What kind of horror are we facing?" She finally managed to ask.

"One that all our defensives combined worldwide apparently had no defense against. Every one of our enemies banded with us to try and save as many of our kind as they could. Our identities fell to the wayside as we let the survivors use our hangar to try and hide. By the time Feral came here, he said there were no more than a thousand Kats left alive in the whole city and the enemy was closing in. No one knows why they wanted our planet only that they were stripping it bare of all its resources and had no need of us." T-Bone told her, the retelling still made him ill.

"Oh my God!" Sinian gasped, horror shining in her eyes. She swallowed hard and turned away trying to marshal her thoughts. Turning back to T-Bone, her eyes haunted, she asked, "So in desperation, Feral came here to warn us?" She asked softly.

"Yeah. It was a really suicidal risk he took but he figured he was dying anyway," T-Bone said, shifting uneasily at the memory of what Feral had told them.

"So why have you come to me?" Sinian asked, puzzled.

"Since every technological method used, even Professor Hackle's robots, failed to defeat the enemy, to everyone's surprise, Hard Drive volunteered to go aboard the alien ship and find out their weakness. Unfortunately, future Feral fell unconscious before he could tell us what that was. Razor suspects its magic since Feral never made mention of it during his report," the tiger tom explained.

"That would certainly be a good guess. If technology and biological warfare didn't work then all that's left is magic. So you're here to see if we can come up with a way to utilize magic then?" She asked thoughtfully.

"You got it!.....wait....did you say biological?" T-Bone asked in surprise.

"Well, yes. I just assumed that had been attempted as well. It wasn't?" She asked, frowning.

"Future Feral never mentioned it even though Viper was there to help them. He never mentioned if such a thing was used by them or Viper. Damn! We never even considered that!" T-Bone said excitedly. "I'll have to bring that up when I get back to Feral. Still, that alone may not help us so we better go on with the magical use theory too. Razor said some of us could be descended from those with a magical heritage. It was hoped Queen Callista's books could help train these people. So we need you to do a genealogical search from Queen Callista's time to the present searching for those descendants. Ms. Briggs is suspected to be descended from the Queen according to the Pastmaster," T-Bone explained, pleased she caught on so quickly. "Also we need to find any and all books concerning magical training, spells, rituals, and anything else of that nature."

"Oh my! That is a tall order and extremely time consuming," Abi exclaimed in dismay.

"Feral said he would provide the assistance you needed to get the research done as fast as possible so training could get started. And you are formally being told that this is to be kept under strictest security. Anything you need to discuss about this project must be transmitted through Sgt Fallon, Feral's assistant to all those who are part of this super secret project. This is to prevent a panic and avoid interference from any well meaning busybody," T-Bone cautioned her.

"I completely understand. I will delegate my work to my associates and dedicate myself solely to this project. I think setting up a secure room for this will also be necessary. All materials for the search will be taken to that room and a guard will be kept around the clock on the door. Will that be sufficient?" She asked, her face grim.

"Yeah, sounds like you got a good handle on it. I'll let Feral know. How many assistants will you need to start with?" He asked.

She frowned in thought for some minutes. "I should think at least ten at the start will be sufficient."

"Okay, I'll let him know. Thanks doc," T-Bone said with a wan smile as he prepared to leave.

"You're welcome, T-Bone. I just hope we are on the right track," she said worriedly.

"You and me both. I don't want future Feral's sacrifice to be in vain," he said grimly then took his leave.

Slipping out the way he came in, T-Bone was in a hurry to see Feral about this new piece of information. He reached the jet without being detected and leaped aboard. He took the jet up then raced to Enforcer Headquarters.

Feral's new security rules were firmly in place by the time he arrived at his destination by the swiftness he was given clearance to land on the flight line. A ground crew rushed up to his jet and asked what he needed.

"She's good, just give her some fuel!" T-Bone said briskly then strode hurriedly toward the interior of the flight deck. Jumping aboard an elevator that had just arrived, he shared the car with some curious enforcers but they didn't question him as he pressed the button for Feral's floor.

When the doors opened, he hurried down the hall to the Commander's office. The secretary looked up at him questioningly. It felt odd seeing a SWAT Kat within the enforcer building but considering the emergency, she sensed was going on, she would get used to seeing them here.

"Feral available?" He barked urgently.

"He's with his second and third in command," she responded briskly.

"Good! I need to see them as well. Tell Feral have urgent news!" T-Bone requested.

She nodded and reached for her intercom. Feral's voice answered, his voice distracted. She gave him the message and received an affirmative. She nodded at the SWAT Kat who was already heading for the large door.

He made sure the door was closed behind him before striding across the floor toward Feral's desk where two officers and Sgt Fallon were hovering around the Commander's desk.

Feral gave him a questioning look as he got close.

"I've just come from Dr. Sinian's office. She understands what's required of her and is setting a special room aside for the work to be done and will have it guarded 24/7. She request at least ten assistants to start with. She'll let you know if more will be needed." T-Bone reported. "She said something that caught my attention while we talked which shocked me. She mentioned Biological Warfare and whether our future selves had used it......"

"Biological!" Feral barked interrupting the tabby. "Kat's Alive! It's possible he might have been going to say that. Damn we missed that!"

"Yeah, I could kick myself for forgetting it as well. Anyway, I thanked her but told her we still need the magical stuff as well. We can't be certain a biological attack will be successful either." T-Bone said.

"We also have to take care we don't create something that could kill us as well. Biological warfare is rarely used because of the risk of killing both sides as well as all living things needed to live but you do have a point. We need to explore this avenue as well. I'll speak with Dr. Konway about it." Feral said grimly, making a note on the subject as well as Dr. Sinian's request..

He looked back up and eyed the tabby a moment. "Where's your partner?"

"He's pursuing those magic using friends of his. They were doubtful of his sanity, of course, but said they would see him....alone. It made sense to split up and get two things done at the same time." T-Bone said with a shrug.

"Good idea. His report is vital to what we're going to do next." Feral sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Already running into resistance on your calls?" T-Bone guessed.

"Oh yeah! Crazy was the mildest term they used so far," Feral growled.

"No surprise there. I still have problems believing this. Anyway, I'll be going home now. Call if you need me and good luck with your conference call. Hope most listen to you," T-Bone said grimly then turned and left.

Feral just sighed again and returned to the work they were doing after making a quick call to Dr. Konway to report to his office at his earliest convenience.


	7. Chapter 7

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 7: **The Recruitment Continues

Dr. Konway arrived at Feral's office just as the Commander was hanging up with the Director of Megakat's Observatory. It had taken more than an hour of explaining, badgering and threatening to try and convince Director Sorbin that he, Feral, wasn't crazy and that, yes, he did understand tying up the telescope for what seemed to be a wild goose chase would set back their research possibly years, but the alternative was death for all of them.

He reminded the doctor that this city was well know for the bizarre but that this far exceeded anything they'd dealt with in the past or present. If Sorbin needed proof, he was welcome to visit a certain hospital room. Feral would give him clearance to see his future self. Still thinking the Chief Enforcer had gone round the bend, Sorbin said he would go see this so called double this evening and get back with him then hung up on Feral.

Growling at the phone, Feral cursed under his breath then began to dial a number as Konway walked up to his desk. He acknowledged the doctor with a nod then spoke to the officer who was head of the guard detail at his future self's room. After receiving acknowledgment that the officer would be watching for Dr. Sorbin this evening and would let him know if he showed, Feral got the report that future Feral was still unconscious, sighing in dismay, he hung up.

"Konway! Dr. Sinian mentioned something we didn't think to look into. Biological Warfare! We don't know if my future self was going to mention this or if it was just on magic. Right now we're going ahead with the research into magic but we need to explore this other avenue as well." Feral sighed and rubbed his face while he gathered his thoughts.

Konway waited patiently. He'd been brought up to speed on what was going on and he was shocked and horrified that their future held such danger. He was ready to do anything necessary to save their world but this new subject was just as terrifying as the alien attack was.

Feral returned his attention to the waiting scientist and noted the deeply troubled look on the tom's face. "Yes, I know just how dangerous Biological Warfare can be. Using it can just as easily take out the ones you're saving as well as the enemy. Believe me, I really don't want to take that route. As I remember, my future self did mention that Dr. Viper used his plant army to fight the aliens but what he didn't say was if Viper tried to use his usual mutation methods to take out the aliens that way," he said, a puzzled expression on his face as he went over what was said during the interview again in his mind.

"Pardon me, sir, but I don't think he would have been able to unless he was able to get some DNA from them. He is familiar with Kat DNA and that's how he is able to mutate it but an alien......that would require some extensive research first before he could do anything that could harm them and according to what I'd been told, they......meaning our future selves.......didn't have that kind of time," Konway said thoughtfully.

"You know, I don't remember him saying any of the aliens except for their hard shell, nearly impervious ground soldiers ever landed on the planet. Not once did he mention them ever doing paw to paw combat with them. Damn it! Too many questions and no answers while he's still out of it," Feral said bitterly, frustration lacing his voice.

"How is his condition, sir?"

Feral grimaced, anguish peeking out from his troubled eyes. "Not good. He's dying and there's nothing the doctor's can do to halt the deterioration of his body. All they can do is make him comfortable but he's got less than a month if that much."

Konway winced. "I'm sorry to hear that. I truly hope he regains enough strength to answer these questions or we're fishing in the dark as much as they did in the future," he said worriedly.

"I know, believe me. Anyway, so are you saying using germs are not going to work for us?" Feral asked, getting back on subject.

"We're in the same boat as Dr. Viper, sir. We'd need a DNA sample of our enemy to create something that could kill them. So, no, its really not an option," Konway said, shaking his head firmly in the negative.

"Aw well, I didn't think so either, but I couldn't drop it from consideration until all the facts were presented. So it's back to magic," Feral grunted, grimacing in distaste at that option.

"I understand your disinclination for that, sir. We certainly don't have a defense against magic and don't like using something we don't understand. Uh......you said Dr. Sinian is exploring that option?" Konway asked.

"Yes, as well as Razor, who seems to know a conclave of magic users. That's all we've got right now," Feral sighed, tirededly, leaning back in his chair to stare up at the ceiling.

"Since there's nothing my section can do to prepare for this disaster, sir, is there anything else we can do for you?" Konway asked.

Feral paused in his perusal of the ceiling to think then sat up again. "Yes, send some of your brightest youngsters over to help do research for Dr. Sinian. I was going to send some of my officers but I think a trained scientist's eyes might be better. She needs at least ten assistants. Can you provide them?"

It was Konway's turn to pause and think then he nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll get right on it and send my best to her right away."

"Excellent. Be sure to give the list of names for your group to Sgt Fallon and tell them this is top secret. No phones, no written communications or reports, no discussing it with anyone not part of the group......only direct communication with Dr. Sinian who will relay it to us. That's to reduce the chances of a leak," Feral told him grimly.

Konway nodded, a grave expression on his face. "I understand completely, sir. I'll get the list to you within the hour." He turned and left quickly.

Feral wrote up his notes on what was discussed then moved to the next thing on his agenda which seemed to get longer all the time. According to the lists of people in the weapons manufacturing and scientific fields he'd had Fallon research and print up for him, he still had some twenty left to contact. He needed a break and there was one interview he needed to do in person. He looked over at Sgt Fallon waiting patiently.

"I need to get away from these phones for a bit, so I think I'll go see Hackle and get that discussion over with then finish these last few calls. You stay in my office to be on hand to respond to those individuals I've left messages for and set up appointments for them to see me by tomorrow. Got it?"

Sgt Fallon had pulled out his notepad and was making notes, he nodded in response to his superiors question. Feral went on, "If you have to leave, let Mary know where you are at all times."

"Yes sir. I hope you are able to get Professor Hackle's cooperation. I don't think you'll have a problem once you tell him what's coming and that he played a significant part in it in the future," Fallon said solemnly.

"I'm hoping you're right about that. Hold the fort! I'll be back as quick as I can," Feral grunted as he got up from behind his desk and went to put on his coat. Giving Fallon a sharp nod good bye he stepped out of his office.

"Mary?"

"Yes sir?"

"Sgt Fallon will be staying in my office while I'm gone to see Professor Hackle. All I need you to do is make sure any messages from the team is quickly transmitted to him," Feral ordered.

"I'll take care of it sir. Will you be on your radio or should I contact you by cell if its necessary?" She asked.

"Use my cell only but be very circumspect with any messages you relay to me."

Mary nodded her understanding. Feral turned and headed for the elevator quickly. Very soon he was in the parking garage and getting into his distinctive black and gold hummer.

His mind was running over all the details yet to be done as well as his speech he would give to all his military peers on the conference call later that evening. No matter how he said what needed saying, it still sounded ludicrous. It was going to take a lot to convince them he hadn't lost his mind. 'Hmm, perhaps a video of my future self might be helpful......" he thought then pulled his cell out and called Sgt Fallon. "Sergeant! Check with our surveillance people about sending a video feed of our special guest to my fellow military leaders. Perhaps that will show them I'm not making this up as well as his vehicle. Get right on this and tell them its imperative to have it done before the call tonight."

"Yes sir! I'll get right on it," Sgt Fallon acknowledged then hung up.

Closing his cell, Feral dropped it into his pocket and concentrated on his driving. Some fifteen minutes later he arrived at Professor Hackle's secluded lab/home complex across the bay.

There was a security gate at the end of a long drive. He stopped at the intercom and pressed the button to gain the Professor's attention. It took a good ten minutes before there was a response.

"Yes, who is calling?" Came the professor's familiar voice.

"Commander Feral, Professor Hackle. I need to see you. It's urgent."

"Of course, Commander, come on ahead."

The gate opened silently allowing Feral's vehicle through before closing behind him. He drove up the long drive until he came to the front of Hackle's home. The Professor's home and lab was built into the side of a mountainside. One side of it faced the bay with huge windows. The rest of it was hidden from view by a forest at its backside. He didn't know it but there was a side road that led to a huge hangar door that the SWAT Kats used when they visited him.

Feral was at the home entrance. The face of this was a nice looking bungelow with gardens across the front apron of yard. The drive stopped at the end of a gravel parking area. He stopped his car, parked, got out then walked up the short sidewalk to the front door. Next to the heavy, ornate door was another security keypad and screen.

Before he could press the button the door to the home opened silently. The door moved on heavy pins. He blinked in surprise, it was as strong as a blast door at Pumadyne. No would be able to break into Hackle's home with anything short of a nuclear bomb. He was impressed.

Hackle eyed him curiously and gestured for the huge tom to enter. Feral stepped into the entry way of a very nicely appointed living space. It wasn't large or ostentacious but it was comfortable. The living room had comfortable couches, a fireplace, and a plasma TV but by the looks of it, the Professor never spent time here. It was for guests only. Doors led off to the other spaces like the kitchen and bedrooms but to the right of living room was another door that seemed to blend into the wall.

He wondered if that led to the Professor's labs. Before he could ask, Hackle was speaking to him.

"It's a surprise to see you here, Commander. I can only assume it's something very dire to bring you all the way to my humble home," Hackle said, hobbling over to the couch and sitting down.

Feral followed his lead and took a seat across from him. "I won't beat around the bush here Professor. Our world is in serious danger from a threat that won't happen for three years."

Hackle blinked at him in confused dismay. Feral quickly told the elderly Kat about their sick future visitor and the grim news he'd brought them at the cost of his life.

"Oh my! This is terrible!" Hackle blurted in shocked horror. Shaking his head, he allowed the information to filter through his brain for a few minutes.

Feral kept his silence and waited to see what the old Kat would say.

Bringing his attention back to Feral, his face was grim as he said, "So in this future war, I created an army of robots to try and win back our world but it was too little too late, is that correct?"

"That's what my future self told us. Even with the help of the omegas we were losing badly."

"Except for Hard Drive, now that's an amazing twist," Hackle said shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's what I felt too, but Razor feels we should attempt to try and convince our enemies that we have a much bigger problem then their desire to take over the city. Unfortunately, we don't know where the omegas are hiding and I'm doubtful we can convince them in time. Although, that might not be true of Hard Drive. He's on the loose again but it might be worthwhile to put out feeler for him through the criminal channels, telling him we might have a deal for him. It's worth pursuing since his abilities did have a real impact," Feral mused.

"If you want my two cents on that, Commander, I agree you should at least make the attempt. Everyone has the right to redeem themselves," Hackle said quietly.

Feral could only shrug at that. "I'm not about to dismiss anything at this point Professor. We're in too much danger to turn away any possibility. Anyway, are you willing to take on this burden now and get robots built for this offensive?"

"Oh, definitely, Commander. If it can make even a little more of a difference having them on hand sooner before the conflict reaches such catastrophic levels then I must do my part," Hackle said firmly.

"Then there's one more thing I've got to tell you. The SWAT Kats said when the Pastmaster sent them into a future he had altered, it was one where the Metallikats took over your robots and turned them against Katkind, nearly wiping them out and leaving our world a ruin. Razor wanted you to insure these robots could not be subverted to criminal use or even our alien enemy's use. He said you had them controlled by a single matrix controller unit. That kind of setting was ripe for take over. So whatever you have to do, don't make it so easy for the robots to be turned against us," Feral warned him gravely.

"Oh my! How awful! Thank you for giving me the warning. I must think on how best to make my robots more autonomous and incorruptible. Perhaps I should consult with Razor and get his ideas in this area. He is a very bright tom and he could make my work much easier," Hackle said thoughtfully.

"I'll let him know to get with you when he can make time. Right now he's trying to get us another form of defense. One dealing with magic, the only thing that apparently hadn't been used," Feral told him.

Hackle's eyebrows raised in astonishment. "Magic?! Well, you could be right. We did give up that belief and abilities when we turned to science. Perhaps the combination of the two.....technology and magic will be the key to our survival. I hope Razor is successful in his endeavor. You've given me a great deal to think about, Commander."

"I know and I hope you can assimilate it quickly and get busy building," Feral acknowledged, ruefully. "Listen, its imperative that you only communicate with the SWAT Kats, my assistant Sgt Fallon, and me. We're trying to prevent a panic among the populace so we're keeping a tight security lid on this. I've set a meeting with all our possible allies within Megakat City for tomorrow. I want you to attend as well. It will be at Enforcer Headquarters, my conference room at ten a.m."

"I will be there, Commander," Hackle said solemnly as he led the Commander back to the front door to bid him goodbye. "I pray we succeed."

"So do I," Feral said quietly as he stepped through the door. "See you tomorrow."

Feral felt some relief that his mission had been successful as he drove back to headquarters. Now he had to finish making his other calls. Tonight and the next day were going to be very busy ones.


	8. Chapter 8

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 8: The Gathering of Forces**

That night the worldwide conference call with those on the other side of the world began. At first, Feral ran up against disbelief and downright ridicule, not surprising really, since what he was telling them was totally fantastic...like in the realm of science fiction.

So he had to be ready to counter their disbelief quickly before they could hang up. His ace in the hole was the fact all his calls were being conducted on video phones, a new innovation that had caught on like wildfire all around the world. An innovation whose time was perfect for getting people to believe the danger was real and begin dealing with it now. It would also aid them in their many planning sessions, from here on out, in preventing misunderstandings that could cost them valuable time.

Using this technology, Feral had his technician send images collected of the pod and his sick future self from the hospital to every one of his contacts. The sobering images quickly put a stop to the doubting Thomas' arguments, at least some of them anyways. He found himself wasting time answering thousands of questions before he finally won over the last of them. When he finally got all of them on the same page and had them agreeing that all countries needed to support the mission with people, equipment, funds, and ideas, they were able to move onto the actual brainstorming.

Feral made it plain from the start that traditional methods of fighting and strategies were basically worthless. When some of them strongly objected, he explained what had happened before. That silenced most of them but some felt the traditional could still be of use. He didn't disagree but said they would be used more as a diversion rather than the main thrust of the defense. Those that had objected had to agree that was a sensible approach. With that point clarified, Feral went on to ask for ideas that would seem to be in the realm of the impossible. That was harder for people trained in the standard methods but gradually, many did manage to come up with some pretty outlandish ideas but no one laughed at them.

Feral took everything they said seriously and took lots of notes. Even his rather out there idea of using magic was met with serious consideration. To his pleased surprise, one of the generals knew of such a group living within his lands. Magic was the one thing they were pinning their hopes of success on and having this person with an entire conclave of them seemed a gift from heaven to Feral, his heart leaping with hope.

"This conclave has existed since medieval times, Commander. It seems we'll be forced to use something we've long since stopped believing in. Good thing there are those that never did. I, fortunately, am on good relations with them. I'll speak with their leader as soon as we're done here. However, knowing them, I have a feeling they may already be aware of this threat," General Kylemar of the Tymurr Federation said in a grimly amused tone.

Feral was relieved at their good fortune. "Thank you, sir. This gives me more hope that we'll win this damn war. And you may be right about them knowing already. Apparently, a group of witches we have here, predicted something terrible happening more than a year ago but they only told one of the SWAT Kats when he met them by accident. Though apparently it wasn't an accident after all." He grimaced at that thought then continued. "Anyway, he didn't think much of it until this happened. Razor will be contacting them today. Please convey to your group about our group's prediction. I suspect neither group will refuse getting on board." He gave the general a jaundiced eyed. "I have to add here, that this sort of mumble-jumbo gives me the creeps to be dealing with," he admitted ruefully.

The general chuckled. "Oh aye, it makes me feel the same. You and I deal with the real world and magic...well that's always been fantasy to me and not terribly useful. Guess I get to choke on the reality that magic is our only true weapon against this enemy and just move on. We just treat it like it was one of our tanks," he said drily. "Who knew our ancient history would now be coming to our aid?" He shook his head. "Anyway, I will tell them of your message and add in my recommendation that they join forces. But like you said, they probably already know this and I'm just providing them the proof of their predictions. I'll get back with you as soon as possible with their answer."

Feral nodded and sighed mentally. He made a note on their conversation then moved on to other subjects before finally concluding the meeting. Just before they disconnected for the night, one of the generals suggested Megakat City be the headquarters for the war effort and making Feral the one in command of the war effort now dubbed Mission: Saving the World, since his city was the epicenter of all this in the first place. All voted, yea.

Secretly, Feral had hoped someone else would have volunteered but he knew there was no one more qualified than himself because of his experiences in dealing with the weird and fighting battles of the impossible. However, his peers made sure he would not be doing this alone. Each country would send a liaison to Megakat City. And once the needs of the newly formed coalition was in place and had discussed what was needed, only then would more assistance be sent.

That assistance would take the form of every bright problem solver from each country being sent to Megakat City where they would be pooled together in a secured and guarded place, most likely the strategy room in the basement of Enforcer Headquarters.

Their only responsibility would be to sift through all the data collected from scientists, inventors, genius', wizards, military strategists and weapon's designers and come up with the best options that had the most chance of succeeding against their enemy. Those options would be quickly disseminated to all the military leaders so they could be incorporated into their battle plans.

A lot of groundwork had been accomplished, much to Feral's exhausted relief. Before seeking his bed for some much needed sleep, he ordered Sgt Fallon to get the minutes typed up immediately and disseminated as fast as possible, through secure means, to all those involved then get some rest himself.

Fallon took the minutes and saluted his superior briskly before hurrying off. Yawning hugely, Feral finally packed it in and stumbled off to his temporary quarters in the second tower of the massive Enforcer building. Tomorrow morning would be his second conference call to the ones who lived closer.

Hopefully, that one will go much faster once the next group reads the minutes. Though, I'm sure I'll still get the naysayers and have to convince them. More time lost but it can't be helped. At least I've made some significant headway, he sighed mentally. "Kat's alive! I'm soo tired," he muttered aloud as the elevator dumped him at the floor where the connecting bridge was located. At this hour, there was no one around and his boot heels made a loud clack...clack sound on the tiled floor. Reaching the second tower, he took the elevator down two floors and decanted on a quiet, carpeted hallway. His room was at the end of the hall.

He sighed with relief as he walked in, locked the door behind him, then stripped his clothes off. Nearly too tired to shower, he took one anyway to help him relax. Very soon he was stumbling to bed and sliding between clean sheets, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

_**Earlier in the day...**_

Razor raced through the city, passing by its main center before speeding over the Megakat Bridge that went over the bay then turning off onto a highway that headed toward the farmlands beyond. The trip took nearly an hour, but soon he was going down a long dirt road and arriving at a quiet farm house surrounding by fields and a forest behind it.

The residents had heard him coming up their drive and were waiting for him on their wide porch. The SWAT Kat parked his cyclotron beside an old battered jeep. Climbing off, he set his helmet on the seat, set the bike's alarm, then walked up to the four people waiting for him.

"Good day, Razor," a tall, lean black and white tom said in greeting.

"Good day to you, Byron. Thank you for being willing to see me on such short notice," Razor said politely.

"Not a problem. You were expected. Please, come in and we'll discuss what has brought you to us," Byron said warmly, gesturing for Razor to follow them into the house.

Inside the home, it was warm and inviting. A large stone fireplace was set in the wall to the right of the entryway. The living room was filled with comfortable couches and chairs covered in homemade knitted blankets.

"Please, have a seat. Would you like some warm or cold tea after your long ride?" A female calico walked in from the kitchen asked.

"Cold tea would be nice with some lemon and honey, please," Razor said, giving her a small smile. She returned it then left the room. The other three took seats and waited for her to return.

No one said anything but the silence, surprisingly, wasn't uncomfortable. Razor felt oddly soothed and at ease so used the time to compose what he wanted to say. He prayed he could convince them of the urgency of his request. He hadn't missed the fact that they'd knew he was coming even before he had known it was necessary.

Moments later, the she-kat returned and handed him his drink then took a seat in a chair near him and waited patiently for him to slake his thirst.

"You may start when you are ready," Byron told Razor quietly.

The SWAT Kat nodded then launched into a short, concise explanation on what had transpired over the past forty-eight hours. When he'd finished, he drank more of his tea to wet his now dry throat and waited for their response.

The four individuals traded grim looks.

"We must discuss this in private. Please, rest and relax your mind, Razor. Your life is filled with great stress. Use this time to ease your spirit while we deliberate," Byron quietly then the group got up and disappeared into another part of the house.

Razor sighed and tried to do as Byron instructed. It wasn't too hard. It was very quiet and peaceful here which is why he liked to visit them when he could. His mind drifted back to when he had met Byron and his people.

_**A year ago...**_

_He'd been driving blindly, full of anger and pain after an omega incident had ended the life of someone he had just been getting to know in his Jake persona. Dark Kat had ended the lives of many as was his habit when he destroyed parts of the city on his mission to take over as leader but it had never impacted Razor as much before until he found out, more than a week later, that his friend had died because of an omega._

_The shock and anger ate away at him and not even work had been able to soften his grief, so on this day, he'd gotten on his bike as Razor and had driven recklessly away in no particular direction...just going fast enough to try and outrun his pain. _

_He ended up on the outskirts of the city where the farming community lived. The road was empty and homes were spread far apart from each other, separated, for the most part, by field of grain or other food products and, in a few cases, pasture land with cows placidly chewing their cud. _

_With the road being paved, Razor hadn't needed to slow down so he continued to blur by the scenery at speeds only a jet could attain. His focus was straight ahead while his emotions were tangled by his grief. Not a great combination at these speeds._

_Which was why he never saw the tractor coming out from between the high stalks of a cornfield on his right and begin lumbering slowly into the roadway until he was seconds from plowing into it. With barely a thought, his paw flashed to a button on his dash that instantly ignited the bike's rocket engines, boasting him skyward and completely over the shocked and surprised farmer on the tractor. _

_Razor came down with a thud, the bike's rear wheel gaining traction instantly and sending him hurtling down the road like a missile. It took him more than twenty miles to slow down enough that he could turn around and whiz back to the, now stalled, tractor sitting in the middle of the road._

_He rolled to a stop beside the shaken driver. "Are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you," he said contritely._

_The farmer took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm himself before answering. "You gave me quite a fright, young fellow. Might I ask what your hurry was?" _

_Razor blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I was upset and was riding to cool off though that's certainly no excuse for not paying attention. Please accept my apology for nearly hitting you."_

_The Kat stared down at Razor, assessing the SWAT Kat with a piercing gaze that unsettled the smaller tom._

_Razor gave him the same once over. The farmer was about forty years old, tall, with a trim body. Most of his face was covered by a thick dark brown beard that went to his mid chest. His equally long hair of the same color was tied behind his head in a ponytail and was covered by an old straw hat. His fur was a mix of black, gray, and white and was long and well kept. _

_The tom's gentle expression and piercing blue eyes were the only things that kept one from laughing at him as his facial markings of black and white made him look like a raccoon. His clothing was the usual thing one would see on a farmer; faded blue coveralls, a red quilted, long sleeved shirt, and thick, brown boots. He pulled out a red bandanna and wiped his face and neck then stuffed it back in his pocket. _

_"Apology accepted," he said smiling warmly at the young tom standing uneasily before him. "Say, how about you come to my home for a cool drink and set a spell? That's where I was headed before you exploded on the scene. I have a feeling I and my family could be of help to you in de-stressing. Your life is dangerous and it doesn't bode well that you are this troubled. Please, come sit and have dinner with us, it may be the best decision you've made today," he coaxed._

_The cinnamon tom blinked in surprised bewilderment. It was obvious the farmer knew who and what he was and for reasons of his own wanted to have a SWAT Kat over for dinner. Something about the way the Kat looked at him, made Razor a little uneasy but not as if the guy was a threat. No, it felt like the tom could see into his very soul and that if he was willing to listen to what this fellow had to say, it could change his life. _

_The moment he thought that, he wanted to immediately say no and turn tail back to the city. He wasn't normally given to such fanciful and out of the norm thinking but something about this tom made him trust him. If that didn't sound even more weird, he chided himself. However, I don't want to be rude either._

_Razor looked around him a moment, giving himself time to decide. The sun was low in the sky and the reason for his ride had been temporarily derailed. Sighing mentally and thinking he should have his head examined, he gave in._

"_Uh, it's not usually my habit to trust a stranger nor drop in on people I don't know, but..." the farmer seemed to sense the battle going on and didn't say anything, just smiled. Razor rubbed his neck. "...I accept. Perhaps you're right. I could use some time with just ordinary people for once." Though he didn't think there was anything ordinary about this guy._

_"Good, then follow me, if you please. I'll happily help you stay within the speed limit," the tom chuckled._

_Razor couldn't help but grin back then waited for the farmer to pull his tractor the rest of the way into the road. He followed at the snail pace the tractor kept, his mind trying to understand why he was doing this._

_It took about fifteen minutes to travel only a mile to another driveway. This was not paved and wound its way like a lazy river toward a nice home, shaded by many trees. It had a huge wrap around porch and was two stories high and done in a subdued tan color with brick red shutters. He could see a small forest on the left and many out buildings on the right at the rear of the house and this was where the farmer was headed with his tractor._

_He paused near the porch of the house and gestured for Razor to come closer._

_"You may park your bike here. I'll just take this old thing to the barn and be right back to take you in."_

_Razor nodded his understanding and pulled up near the neat, brick walkway that led up to the porch as the farmer trundled further on and out of view. The small tom shut off his bike and sat still for a moment. It was very peaceful here and quiet. All he heard was birds calling, cows mooing somewhere, and a dog barking in the distance. Maybe he should come out this way more often just to clear his head and get away from the noise and stress of the city._

_As he was ruminating and enjoying the quiet, his head turned away from the drive, the farmer quietly returned, making no sound. Razor jerked his head back around and stared, startled the guy had managed to come right up to him without him hearing or sensing him. He prided himself on how hyper-aware his senses were. After all, they were why he had survived the bad guys this long. But here was this simple farmer sneaking up on him with ease. That badly unnerved him. _

_"Sorry, I didn't wish to disturb your meditation," the farmer said simply._

_"Wow! You're quiet. Not many can get that close to me without me knowing about it," Razor said, more gruffly than he'd intended._

_"Of that I'm certain but do not let it trouble you that I did so. My people are...a little different than the norm...you would have had to be rather unusual yourself to have heard one of us," the tom assured him._

_Razor frowned in confusion at that statement but before he could ask for an explanation, the farmer put a finger to his lips._

_"All will be answered in due time my young friend. Please, come inside." The farmer turned and made for the porch._

_Still confused and even more disquieted, Razor secured the cyclotron out of habit then followed the farmer into the house. _

_It turned out to be the most unusual and scariest visit of his young life. After a simple dinner of root vegetables and roast pork, he found himself sitting in a comfortable parlor with a group of people of all ages who smiled and welcomed him warmly then dropped a bomb on him._

_He learned he'd stumbled on a coven of witches who practiced the old ways of magic that hadn't changed over the centuries. They lived a simple and peaceful life; farming, making herbal cures for their neighbors for both animal and Kats, helped with the birthing of their animals, predicted the weather with a high degree of accuracy and used the planet's own aura to do magic... though, as Byron, the farmer he'd met, told him...they had no real need to do much more than the simplest magic in this modern age._

_But what made the whole visit even stranger was being told his visit today had been predicted by their seers. That was when he learned something so frightening he had a hard time believing it despite it giving him chills up his spine upon hearing it._

_One of the elders, a handsome she-kat he'd been introduced to, named Leutera, told him solemnly and with great dignity, "You and your partner have protected Megakat City with all your heart and soul but a year from now you both will be called upon to protect our entire world from complete and utter destruction."_

_Razor blinked at her in disbelief. "What kind of threat could do that? Dark Kat?" _

_"No, it will not be one of the omegas but a new enemy...one from the stars. Unfortunately, no more than that has been revealed to me. We can only warn you that something or someone will come and give warning of the danger and you must believe what you see and hear if our world is to survive." _

"_Uh, okay. I'll do my best. I just hope you get more on this so I'm not completely in the dark here," Razor said, uneasily._

_She smiled sadly. "We are only given a glimpse. It's what we do with that sliver of information that will save us so don't expect any further notices."_

_Razor felt like rolling his eyes but didn't. Even though they couldn't see his eyes behind his mask, somehow he just knew they'd know he'd done it. He'd said his goodbyes and hurriedly gotten away from that place._

_But he couldn't quite leave them alone so found himself returning from time to time over the next year forming a deeper bond with them. For reasons he couldn't explain to himself, he never did tell his partner about the prediction only that he'd met a coven of witches. Being a more down to earth kind of guy, Chance wouldn't have taken the warning seriously and on the subject of witches, he chose not to ask anything about his buddy's 'weird friends' which suited Jake fine._

Until now that is...he was brought back to the present when the elders returned to the room.

"Thank you for telling us this news. We now understand better what our prediction for you meant a year ago. Also, for the past month, we have felt a sense of urgency, warning us to be ready. That has been answered as well," Byron said, gravely. "And in answer to your request, yes, we will work with these others from afar. Commander Feral has had a heavy burden laid upon him and we must do all we can to lighten it. When he requests our presence, come tell us and we will be there immediately," Byron assured him.

"Thank you. Somehow, I knew this was what you warned me about when I first laid eyes on future Feral," Razor said grimly. "Now that you know, I must get back to the city. Here...take this comm unit!" He handed it to Byron. "I doubt I'll have time to come notify you so this will be faster."

Byron nodded his understanding then saw Razor to the door. Minutes later, the SWAT Kat was roaring down the road toward home. He would tell Feral tomorrow morning the witches were on board. For the first time since this nightmare had begun, he felt a little more hopeful.


	9. Chapter 9

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 9: The Final Piece **

_**Next day.......six a.m........**_

Morning shone bright and clear as Feral rose to get ready for another long day. Once all the players were in place and working on the problem, his part of it should ease off for a while. He'd only have to keep tabs on their progress and prod when things slowed down. He would have to make sure he set a part of his day aside to look over what had been accomplished and send a report to his peers in the rest of the world.

Yawning, he stretched and headed for the shower. He needed to be ready for the morning conference call. He hoped the ones he needed to speak to this morning had taken the time to listen to the tapes made of the night call and the minutes or time would be wasted by all.

_**Elsewhere in the city......seven a.m.........**_

At Megakat General Hospital, a carefully guarded patient woke slowly to the warmth of the early morning sun on his face. It had been so long since he been able to even see the sun. They'd been confined underground in the SWAT Kats hangar for more than a year.

He blinked his eyes and turned his head slowly until the warmth covered his face. The sun felt so good.

"How are you feeling this morning?" A beloved voice said warmly, a gentle paw touching his cheek.

He turned his head and stared into Felina's concerned face. "I'm as well as I can be. Was enjoying the feel of the sunshine on my face. I missed it so," future Feral murmured softly, smiling at her.

Felina frowned unhappily at that information. It meant the survivors had been confined below ground for a very long time. She turned away and poured him an electrolyte drink and helped him take a sip or two of it.

"I have to inform the doctor you're awake," she said then smiled at his grimace, "yes I know you hate that but it's necessary. I also need to contact.....uh....my uncle here," she said uncomfortably.

"I understand," he smiled gently. "This must be really unsettling to you as much as it is for me."

She gave him a wane smile, "yeah, you could say that. Anyway, rest.....I'll be back soon." Then she left the room. He sighed and returned his face to the warm sun and brought his thoughts in order for the questioning he knew he would be getting from his past self very soon.

_**Enforcer Headquarters.........**_

Feral was getting ready for the conference call which was to begin in about an hour when he received the call from his niece. His heart leapt painfully in his chest as his mind came up with all the things the call could mean......the worst being his future self had died.

Grabbing the phone, he barked, "Yes, Felina?"

"He's awake Uncle."

He sighed with relief then groaned as he realized how little time he had. However, the questions he needed answer really couldn't wait.

"I'll be right there!" He told her then hung up and punched his intercom to tell his secretary to summon Sgt Fallon.

Fallon hurried into the office minutes later as Feral was pulling on his coat. "My future self is conscious. I've got to go see him. If it takes too long then go ahead and start the meeting. Take role and mark it on my list of leaders then ask them if they've reviewed the tapes and minutes. If some haven't then suggest they do it immediately so when the meeting truly begins we won't be held up by needless questions already answered last night," he briefed his assistant.

"When they ask for me you can tell them I'm interviewing our source and will be back with, hopefully, more updated information." When Fallon nodded his understanding of his orders, Feral hurried out the door.

_**Megakat General Hospital.........seven-fifteen a.m......**_

Feral waited nervously for the elevator to take him to the floor his future self was being kept. It was really unsettling see his own face so ravaged and the body so weak. It made him sick inside and only made him more determined to ensure this future never happened.

The elevator dinged, startling him from his rather morbid thoughts. He stepped from the car and went down the hall. The two guards he'd left gave him a respectful nod as he passed by them and entered the room.

He breathed through his mouth so he wouldn't have to deal with the strong scent of sickness and hovering death that filled the room. His future self was partially elevated and being examined by the doctor. Future Feral looked a little better after having gotten some much needed rest.

The worn visage saw him come in and nodded his head weakly as Feral came to his side. The doctor looked up at him dourly.

"Please try not to stress him out too much, Commander. He is doing as well as can be expected for his condition and I'd like to keep it that way," he told Feral sternly.

"I completely understand doctor and I wouldn't do this if it wasn't necessary," Feral murmured quietly.

The doctor looked a little surprised by the Commander's more quiet manner but then when the patient was a double of you, he guessed the big tom was a little unnerved.....he knew he would be in the same situation. "Good! Glad we understand one another. Breaks every ten minutes, Lieutenant and give the electrolyte fluid."

"Yes, doctor," Felina promised.

The doctor sighed and left them alone.

"You know I'd rather let you rest but......" Feral began.

"I understand completely, so let's get to it. I'm sorry but I've forgotten where I left off....." his future self muttered, a little annoyed by his sluggish brain.

"Not a problem. You had told us how Hard Drive had gotten some important information that could help win this war maybe before it even has a chance to start. You also said Dr. Viper had told you there were no more survivors and the enemy was closing in," present Feral quickly recapped.

"Aaaahhh yes," future Feral hummed to himself as he dragged up the memory he wanted. "Besides learning that Hard Drive could disrupt the bodies of the soldiers sent against us, he brought back data that told us these aliens are totally unfamiliar with magic. We didn't realize that at first, though. All he was able to tell us was that they were very familiar with our form of weapons and fighting so that was why it was so easy for them to defeat us. It was Dr. Sinian and surprisingly, Razor, that came up with the guess that in all the data no where was there any form of magic mentioned. They extrapolated that it was because they simply didn't know anything about it," the weak tom said then paused, gesturing to Felina for a drink.

As anxious as he was, Feral held himself still and remained patient as the weaker tom got a drink. His dry throat assuaged, future Feral continued..

"Anyway, that guess didn't help us at first because we had no idea how to make use of it or prove it would really work, that is, until the Pastmaster suddenly appeared. We found out about it on the monitors Razor had set up to pick up what was going on around the city. Before we were stuck beneath the ground, he and Dark Kat went around the city in a fifty mile radius of the hangar and placed minute but powerful cameras that would allow us to at least see what our enemy was doing. For a while, before many of them were destroyed, it allowed to see the destruction of our city and the types of weapons they were using," he said thickly, then paused again to rest, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths.

After about five minutes, he began again. "The Pastmaster's vortex appeared one day and out of it that ugly gnome came flying on the back of a dragon. Immediately, the enemy attacked him. We could see the shock on his face at the devastation and the strange non-Kat enemies. Before he turned around to leave, he managed to deal a sharp blow to the enemy with his magical pocket watch. He didn't just knock them out of the air, though, he actually killed them. It caused momentary panic among the creatures but before they could gather more troops and spaceships to attack him, the Pastmaster slipped back into his portal and vanished. We were stunned and elated. At last we'd found their weakness," he said, a hint of that elation still lingering in his voice.

"But, honestly, we didn't know what to do with that information. However, Razor, Dark Kat, and Dr. Sinian strongly suggested we try to somehow get this information to ourselves in the past. I was frankly skeptical but Dark Kat and Razor with Professor Hackle worked it out and found a way to get me here to tell you magic is possibly our only salvation. Now it's up to you to figure out how to do that. I don't think the Pastmaster will be of much help since he cares nothing for anyone but himself," he finished at last, relaxing back into his pillow. Felina quickly gave him more to drink.

Feral stood there gathering all he'd heard and assembling it into a form he could brief as soon as he got back. A sense of profound relief filled him that Razor's hunch was right and that they had already pursued that avenue. Now he had more hope they would succeed in saving their world.

He reached out and gently squeezed the tom's upper arm. The tired tom looked up at him questioningly.

"Thank you for confirming Razor's guess. When you passed out, he came up with the option as being the only one left. We used that premise and have been gathering all the magic users we can find."

Future Feral gave a wane smile of triumph. "That tom is worth his weight in gold. Because of him, we now have a chance," he said with certainty.

"I'm forced to agree with you," present Feral said ruefully.

Future Feral reached out a shaky paw and present Feral took it. "When this is over and we've won, see that he and his partner are rewarded. They may be vigilantes but they are heros and deserve to be treated as such for without their help and radical thinking all our efforts would be for nothing," he said solemnly.

Present Feral nodded gravely as he covered the tom's paw with his other paw and clasped it tightly as a sign of unity. "I will! I promise. Now I must go. I have a meeting with the rest of the world's military leaders. Rest! I'll make sure Felina comes to visit and keep you updated on our progress. But right now I need to steal her away."

"I understand. I am a little hungry and watching TV and resting sounds good to me right now," future Feral sighed willingly. Felina gave him a gentle kiss as her present uncle released the paw he was holding and laid it on the other's lap. Bidding him farewell, the two left hurriedly.

_**Across the city......eight a.m.......**_

At the salvage yard, Jake was already up which wasn't unusual as he was always an early riser. He made breakfast for both of them and used the time to get his report set in his mind for the meeting later that morning. He would soon learn his guess was more accurate than he could have hoped. They were going to be very busy....very soon.....and not as vigilantes but as defenders of their world in the battle to come. Right now, though, the mundane needs of daily life had to be attended to.

Chance came stumbling down the stairs some thirty minutes later, sniffing the air.

"Hmm, fixing breakfast? What's the occasion?" He rumbled sitting down in his seat.

"We have that meeting this morning at ten, remember? And we have over four cars we need to get done before then," Jake said, serving them bacon, toast, and eggs with cold glasses of milk.

"Oh, yeah......that's right," his partner grumbled but set about eating quickly.

They were soon working busily in the garage as the sun rose higher in the sky.

_**Enforcer Headquarters........eight-thirty a.m.......**_

Feral and Felina rushed through the lobby and onto an arriving elevator, each lost in their own thoughts. When it decanted them on his office floor, she hurried after him as he lead the way to his conference room. The two guards outside nodded to him and one opened the door to allow them entry.

Sitting at the table was Sgt Fallon and before him was a very large video phone screen. Feral could see the sergeant was struggling to hold his temper and maintain his professional calm. On the screen were tiny images of all the military leaders from this part of the world. One of them was speaking in an angry, argumentative tone. Feral sighed to himself, took off his coat and draped it over a chair then signaled the sergeant that he would take over.

Sgt Fallon had only just realized his Commander had arrived and was extremely relieved though he was careful to keep his relief off his face.

"Excuse me General Rudnor, but Commander Feral has returned. He will now take over this meeting," he said politely but firmly then quickly got out of the seat as if his tail was on fire. With his back to the screen, he muttered quickly, "sir, all have reviewed the tapes but some still have doubts."

Feral simply nodded then took his place before the screen and started the long laborious process of convincing another group of leaders.

It took yet another two hours of arguing, cajoling and pleading before he finally managed to get the same agreements from these leaders as he had the more distant ones last night. Representatives from the countries on this mornings conference call would be arriving within the week. Unfortunately, none of these leaders had any magic users among them. After thanking them for their cooperation and with prayers for success from them, he finally ended the call. His head was pounding and his stomach was complaining.

He looked up when a cup, aspirin, and some crackers appeared near his arm. He looked up to see Felina giving him a commiserating look.

"At least you're done with that, Uncle. Now it's just waiting for all parties to come together and get to work," she said quietly, coaxing him to drink and take the aspirin.

Feral gave her a wane smile as he downed the pills and drank the herbal tea. He was surprised it wasn't coffee but when the tea soothed his throat, he was grateful for her thoughtful choice.

"Unfortunately, we still have another meeting which is......damn...already supposed to start," he grumbled getting to his feet hurriedly after downing the rest of the tea.

"Easy, Uncle. Sgt Fallon is already seeing to them and taking role to ensure all have arrived. You have a moment to compose yourself and the tea was to ease your dry throat. I'm going to make some more to go with the water, Fallon already has on the table," she told him soothingly.

He flashed her a relieved smile, "thank you both. This makes things a little easier for me to get through all this. I feel like I'm on a constant roller coaster at the moment."

"I can well understand that, Uncle. We've all been thrown by what's happened over the past twelve hours. We've had no time to catch our breath but after this last meeting, you should get a break."

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that when I got up this morning. Well, let's get to this last meeting," he said heading for his more secure conference room located in the crisis room, in the basement of the building.


	10. Chapter 10

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 10: Meeting of the Minds **

"Chance, time to go!" Jake hollered to his partner from the office where he was finishing up the last of the invoices from their morning's work.

Earlier he'd received a quick call from Feral telling him he needed to summon his magical friends to attend. He'd been unhappy that he'd not known this when he'd spoken to them yesterday but when he reached Byron, he was reassured they had sensed they were needed sooner and had already been on their way. That had creeped him out just a little, but he thanked them and told them where to go when they arrived at Enforcer Headquarters.

The big tabby was cleaning up and getting ready to close the doors. "I hear ya! Do we have time to shower?" He called back as he shut the huge doors.

"Barely!"

Chance grunted at that and hurriedly put up the closed sign on the customer door then ran out to the gate to put up their 'Garage Temporarily Closed' sign. Running back inside, he raced up the stairs. Jake was just coming out of the bathroom and heading to his room. Stripping off his clothes, Chance ducked into the bathroom to take his turn and did a sketchy wash and dry.

His partner was already down in the hangar as Chance came barreling down the ladder and ran over to the lockers to dress. He hadn't bothered to put anything on but boxers and t-shirt so pulling his g-suit on took only seconds.

Clean and ready, he hurried across the hangar floor and bounded up into the cockpit. Razor had already begun engine startup to save time. Closing the canopy, T-Bone took control and sent the turntable to lower toward the runway.

Minutes later, the jet roared into the sky and headed toward Enforcer Headquarters. With minutes to spare, they landed where the tower instructed and shut down engines. Opening the canopy, the pair leaped down then Razor set the sophisticated security system.

Felina was there to escort them.

"Hi guys! I'm to take you to the secured crisis room where the meeting will be held."

The pair nodded but Razor asked, "By the way, what story has Feral put out to the troops about the increased security and our presence here, regularly? We don't want to say something to the wrong Enforcer here."

"Only the ranks above Colonel and Troop Commanders have been told the true story. The rest of the troops were told a serious danger to the world has been discovered but due to the sensitivity of the matter, only those in the highest positions will be privy to all the facts. Everyone else has been instructed to maintain DEFCON 1 protocols until further notice that could extend to three years out. Families and significant others are strictly forbidden to know anything about the increase in work schedules and extra duties being given out. There was some initial grumbling and angry objections at first but that quickly faded when they began to see all these scientists, inventors, military attaches, and even stranger people arriving and taking all this, whatever it is, so seriously. From the rumor mill, I learned the troops have begun to realize this has nothing to do with the omegas and when you factor in all the secret meetings and the reactivation of that old military facility, well all the grousing just ceased and all are determined to keep things as secret as possible from the public including their clandestine acceptance of the SWAT Kats working with them, so you should have no problems from now on," she assured them in a low voice.

"Okay, then we know we don't have to guard our tongues that fanatically, just not say anything about the future, who the enemy is and the other Feral when in the presence of the lower ranking," Razor murmured softly.

"Correct."

"I'm pleased Feral realized the troops needed to be told something. It shows he understands trying to keep something like this under wraps when it will take a few years for it to happen would be nearly impossible, but releasing just enough to make his troops feel they are part of something big and important ensures they keep the secret better than if they were kept in the dark," T-Bone commented, sagely. "He's come a long way from the hidebound, by the rules leader, we knew and hated."

Felina was surprised by that nearly complimentary comment by someone who didn't have a good word to say about the Commander most times. "No matter how much he might ride you guys and how rule bound he gets at times, my uncle has always been considered an excellent strategist," she said proudly.

"You won't get any argument from me. This is a side of him I can respect," T-Bone agreed readily. She could only smile at that.

The elevator pinged and opened onto a concrete corridor of unrelieved gray. One direction lead to the armory while the other to the crisis room. Felina led them to the end of the corridor then turned into an extremely short hall which ended in a heavy door with a keyless entry and was guarded by two heavily armed and burly Enforcers. One gave Felina a nod of respect then held his paw out.

She handed him a flat piece of plastic resembling a credit card which he ran through the reader. The reader flashed green and the door began to open. The guards eyed the SWAT Kats but apparently they'd been given the green light to allow the pair to enter fully armed.

T-Bone and Razor gave both guards a nod of respect which surprised the pair then followed close on Felina's heels as they strode through the now open doorway.

Inside was a huge room with two work levels. The lower lever was kept in semi-darkness because of the huge monitoring screens mounted on the walls but the pathways were lighted. The monitor screens were presently all lit and showing the different military activities going on in and around the city. Normally this room was all shutdown until a major incident like this occurred. It had been more than six months since it had been up and running so Feral had the techs testing all the equipment, fixing anything that required it and insuring all the remote surveillance cameras set about the city were in top working order before his officers took over and began manning this area 24/7 for as long as this crisis went on.

The upper level was where Felina was headed, walking up a ramp that lead to a large glass enclosed conference room. A huge oak table took center stage and was surrounded by comfortable, heavily padded, brown leather chairs that swiveled. One wall wasn't glassed and this held more view screens that were dark at the moment. Other leather chairs were against the glass walls. The room was soundproofed so highly secret meetings could be held there without risk of being overheard by anyone outside the room including the techs in the lower area.

Felina opened the door and their ears were hit with many voices talking. Stepping through the SWAT Kats made for two empty chairs beside Ms. Briggs who was speaking with Dr. Sinian sitting across from her. Behind them, Felina closed the door securely then took her seat next to the empty pair at the head of the table.

As they took their seats, T-Bone and Razor nodded to those Kats they knew and studied the ones they didn't. Professor Hackle was there talking to Dr. Liter Greenbox.

Now that was surprising, when did he get out of jail? Razor wondered.

Across from Hackle and Greenbox, listening to their conversation, was Dr. Konway and sitting beside him was Dr. Ohm.

Razor leaned close to Callie and asked, "So who are the rest of these guys in here?"

"That group over there..." she pointed toward the right side of the table, "...are scientists from the Bio Tech and Bio Chemical Labs; next to them are Pumadyne weapon's inventors and designers, the head of the inventor's association, the head of the Megakat Observatory, and across from them are the leaders for the top security services from the private sector, the head of Feral's own R&D Section and I think Razor knows who they are..." Callie said pointing to a group sitting apart somewhat and dressed rather simply as the end of the table.

"Uh, yeah, they're the local magical society I met by accident a year ago. Feral wanted them here for this meeting though I could have wished he'd told me yesterday when I spoke to them. Anyway, when I contacted them, I was told they'd anticipated my call and were already on their way. I'm not ashamed to admit that seriously weirded me out," Razor murmured, uneasily.

Callie patted him on the shoulder, "That's alright, Razor, they kind of weird me out too. No longer being familiar with magic makes all us normals a trifle uneasy."

"You're right about that," he muttered then changed the subject. "Uh, by the way, why is Dr. Greenbox here and how did he get out of jail?"

"He's an innovative inventor, Razor, something that's needed here. Besides it wasn't his fault for what happened when the Metallikats destroyed his repair robot. The doctors assure me he's a Kat with good morals who simply lost his way temporarily when his life's work was destroyed like that. When he recovered his mind, he was horrified by what he'd nearly done and was grateful he'd been stopped. I got Mayor Manx to issue a pardon and delivered it to Greenbox myself, asking him if he'd join our cause and he quickly agreed," she said reassuringly.

"Okay, as long as you're sure he isn't going to go off the deep end again. We don't have time to deal with nuts right now!" T-Bone grunted, still a little doubtful but trusting her judgement.

Callie gave a small chuckle at that.

"Where's Feral?" Razor asked, looking around.

Callie sighed, "Still on the conference call with the leaders in our part of the world. I don't envy him the headache but I'm thankful for what he's doing to get everything organized. From what I heard, he's already got the far away countries on board. I'm certain he'll succeed with the closer ones as well."

"I don't see how he could fail since the evidence is too compelling to ignore," T-Bone said firmly.

"You'd think that would be true but some people are just harder to convince. It's exhausting trying to get those hold outs to believe the danger is very real even if its years in the future but if anyone can make them accept it, it's Feral."

T-Bone snorted, actually amused. He never though he'd hear Callie say something like that about Feral. Much had definitely changed with this threat.

It was just reaching thirty minutes past the time the meeting was supposed to have begun when Feral and his assistant hurried in.

"Forgive me for being late," he said as he took his position at the head of the table and sat down. "I do have good news though. All the world's countries are now on board and are sending their experts in the same fields as all of you represented here including magic which is located only in one other country, the Tymurr Federation. General Kylemar told me he will be getting back to me, hopefully today, with the results of his meeting with his conclave of wizards. With help arriving lets get this meeting started. From now on this secret project will be codename Mission: Saving the World with a top secret rating. Failure to maintain security will result in a sentence of treason and immediate imprisonment. This will be upheld by all country's leaders and demonstrates to all involved, as if they needed it, how serious this matter is being regarded. All personnel must understand that no one outside the project can know about what we're doing to avoid a panic among the populace. Any questions?" No one spoke and all faces were grave. "Good, then let's discuss how we're going to handle this project."

Over the next few hours all aspects of dealing with such a large and secretive project were discussed and a list of requirements were drawn up that all would adhere to:

-Each agency would send their brightest minds and talent to work exclusively on this project.

-Where would all project workers live and work? At first they had thought to have everyone stay within Enforcer Headquarters but it soon became clear it could not hold the number of people needed. One of the private sector security heads suggested an abandoned military installation on the far side of the MASA center. All agreed that would work. Feral was charged with getting it ready for occupation. Ms. Briggs authorized increased funding from the emergency funds to allow the Enforcers to do this to both save money from hiring a private contractor and to retain security.

-What equipment was needed and who would secure the facility? Feral requested the project leaders send him lists of what was needed so he could use obscure methods of acquiring it and Razor immediately volunteered along with Professor Hackle to install a high tech security system tailored made for their needs which would reduce outside spies abilities to penetrate it.

-All selected and cleared project personnel were to live and work in the new facility. They would have to sign non-disclosure statements. The leaders knew they couldn't hold people hostage at the site. After all, people did need to go home at times to visit family and to recharge so ideas could keep flowing. So each person had to submit to a thorough background check before being given the real reason behind this project before being given the freedom to work on it.

-All reports on the work would be funneled through Feral's office by the heads of each section on the project. He made it very clear that no phones, faxes, or personnel other than the head would handle the reports. To get them to Feral, Sgt Fallon and Lt. Feral would be the only couriers and would wear special communicators (made and provided by Razor), that were untraceable, to summon them. This, hopefully would reduce any risks of security leaks. Feral would consolidate the data into a short, concise report to be sent to all his peers around the world and written in cryptic form only. The crypt key would be delivered by the SWAT Kats to all the leaders in every country. It would take them several days to accomplish that mission and Feral promised to provide them the fuel for it.

-Feral brought up the idea of trying to entice Hard Drive to come in and make a deal with him. He explained what future Feral had said about the techno criminal's part in fighting the war and the fact he sacrificed his life to get them the information that led to using magic. He wanted their opinion on it. Many were shocked and surprised but once they got past that there was a general consensus to go ahead and make the attempt. Professor Hackle made the comment that everyone had a right to redeem themselves. Byron agreed with him.

-It was then the magical group stated their objections to the facility. Speaking for them all, Byron politely but firmly told Feral that the facility would not work for them as they required a working environment divorced from the tech world which meant returning to their mountain retreat. However, the Tymur Federation group actually needed a half and half condition of both tech and nature for their workings. Was such a place available?

Feral and a few others felt security would be compromised by having these two groups, the most important to the project, located away from the secured facility but having no experience with what magic required, they couldn't really argue with the group about it. Byron quietly reassured them that security would be adhered to and no one knew the location of the retreat but themselves. Besides it was protected by magic, just as good if not better than tech. No one could say otherwise so were forced to agree. That only left solving the Tymurr Federation group's problem. An unexpected voice spoke up with a suggestion.

"My residence is located in a private, but heavily fortified home/lab across the bay. Nature is in my backyard as is the bay itself with a private beach and I have a separate lab area you may use. I would willingly share my home with you, if that will help solve this dilemma," Professor Hackle volunteered.

"It would and thank you, sir, for your kind offer," the lead wizard said, pleased and relieved by this solution.

"There's only one problem left. Where to house the incoming candidates while their background checks are being completed," Feral said, wearily. He already had a full plate...doing the background checks, preparing the facility for the project members, and a myriad of other details.

Callie spoke up, "Let me make some quick calls, Commander, and I'll get back to you this afternoon with a solution to that, alright?"

"Fine. I could kick myself for failing to think of the need for temporary housing especially with so many of them arriving within days," he sighed.

Callie reached out and touched his arm. "Ulysses, you've already done so much in such a short time. Don't damn yourself for not being a superkat for goodness sake. You are only one Kat after all. That's what the rest of us are here for, to help you when you need it," she said firmly, giving him a smile of encouragement. Everyone seconded that with comments of '...here, here... and... just ask, we'll help.."

He smiled wanly at her in return, surprised and touched by her concern and support as well as from the others. "Thank you, I'll let you do that." Then turned to the others around the table. "Thank you all. I have forgotten that I'm not an island and I promise to let you know if I need assistance."

Callie smiled warmly. "That's the spirit. Then I guess that's it...right?"

Feral looked around at everyone, no one had any objection and with promises to get the list of candidates to the Commander by the end of the week, the exhausted members ended the meeting finally, after hours of work. Everyone rose to their feet and wearily began filing out of the room, Feral already hurrying ahead of them to get back to his office.

Waiting for the pack to clear the door, the SWAT Kats followed more slowly, allowing Professor Hackle to tag them.

"Would you be willing to go by this military installation now and see what we're up against in securing it?" He asked them.

Razor gave him a surprised look, but the old tom was serious and didn't seemed too tired. "Good idea. If you're up for it, we should do that so we don't waste any more time especially since Feral will need a report on how much work is needed to get it ready for occupation anyway."

"Well, I'd better go grab that security guy before he gets out of here to ask exactly where that place is," T-Bone said quickly, hurrying off to find the person somewhere ahead of them.

Razor stayed with Hackle and escorted him to the flight line. He was helping the Professor board the Turbokat when T-Bone returned, a small smile on his face. They were set to go obviously.

It seemed a nearly insurmountable task they'd set themselves but with their world's very existence at stake they truly had no choice but to be as prepared for the coming war as best they could then do everything to win or die trying. The only other problem that could make their job more difficult were the interference of the omegas. It would take a lot of convincing to make their enemies realize something far more threatening then themselves was on the horizon. If Feral and the SWAT Kats couldn't get their enemies to believe them then they would have to find a way to keep them on ice until the threat had been dealt with. Either way, the omegas were about to get a rude awakening when or if they showed up.


	11. Chapter 11

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 11: Preparing for the Scientists and Death of a Hero**

"Well there it is, Professor!" T-Bone said on his radio as he flew the Turbokat over the old military facility. "Sure is big."

"At least it's still basically intact. I doubt we have any budget or time to do any kind of remodeling," Hackle commented as the pilot took them closer.

Going to VTOL, T-Bone moved the jet slowly around the entire perimeter so the Professor and Razor could get a good look at the facilities outer defenses. The security fence was still intact and standing firm, thankfully. Except for the west side of the building, all the other windows were still in one piece. The guard shack hadn't been damaged by vandals nor time. The grounds themselves were weed covered but generally in good shape.

"Well, the outside is better than we could have hoped," Razor murmured. "Take us down near the entrance, buddy."

"Roger!" The jet came around the building to its main entrance then set down smoothly, blowing plumes of dust into the air as they settled onto the ground. Razor waited a few moments before opening the canopy to let most of the dust settle.

They helped the professor out of the cockpit and down to the ground then walked at his pace for the main doors which were chained together. Razor picked the huge padlock, opening it with ease. Dust lay over all the floors as he opened the door and they stepped through. The air was dry and dusty but, in general, the place looked good...just needed some thorough cleaning up.

It took them three hours to go over the whole place but when they were through, they were relieved.

"It shouldn't take more than a week to wire this place up," Razor said with satisfaction.

"I agree and I'm truly relieved most of the former security systems are still in place, it will make things much easier and quicker to get it up and running as well as tightly secured," Hackle said, tired and dirty, but pleased with the results of their walk-through.

"You want to call Feral or shall I?" Razor asked as they left the building. He paused to restore the padlock then they walked to the Turbokat.

"I'll speak with him. I have all those details I noted to you about the work areas I want to discuss with him anyway," the professor reminded him.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Okay then, let's get you back to your lab, " Razor agreed.

T-Bone leaped up on the wing and aided the elderly tom up then into the cockpit, Razor leaping up after them, settling into his seat. They were soon airborne and heading back across the city to the bay area where the professor lived.

Feral had been relieved by Hackle's report and gave the Professor the go ahead for some of the changes the old tom felt needed done. Once he hung up with Hackle he immediately sent off the large battalion of workers he had standing by, to head out and begin the cleaning up and repairs. By the end of the week, the place gleamed like new, smelled of new paint and wood.

As soon as the building was ready for occupation, Razor and Hackle went in with a team of Enforcer security specialists and installed the high tech security system they'd invented just for this mission. By the following Monday, the work was complete. The last thing to be done once security was completed was to lay in supplies, furniture, food, and lab equipment before the scientists and others could finally be allowed to occupy the facility.

Which was a good thing as their out-of-town guests were already arriving. The large, fairly mixed group of scientists were housed in an out of the way but nice hotel that Callie had requisitioned for them. No other guests were allowed but the one's on the Mayor's list. To put the news hounds off the scent, Callie let it be known that a group of scientists were coming to the city for a symposium on global warming and had actually set up such a conference to cover the sudden influx of so many strangers.

Feral had to task a large contingency of officers to exclusively handle all the background checks necessary for the visitors and local talent. It was a massive undertaking and had to be done quickly as each group arrived before the hotels were overloaded and raised the press suspicions so falling behind wasn't an option. Baring a few snags along the way, the first set of visitors were cleared, briefed more in depth on why they were here, what the cover story was when in the hotel, and security dos and don'ts during their stay.

Within a week, the first group of visitors were herded, under the cover of night and in a darkened van driven by an Enforcer, to the facility where they would live and work for months to come. The old dormitories had been upgraded as well as possible under the circumstances and tight budget, but it was still rough comfort. The scientists were told to pair up then pick a room. That information was to be given to the officer who Feral left in charge of seeing to their guests comforts. Lower ranking officers would rotate doing the daily housekeeping and feeding of the guests. This allowed all his enforcers to participate in the saving of their world and not feel left out. Additionally, it would be a constant reminder of how serious this mission was and to keep ranks closed to ensure security was always a priority.

Feral told his troops in recent group meetings, they were to consider themselves at war and to behave accordingly. They would continue to do their normal duties but would have additional duties that helped the mission as well so twelve hour days would be the norm for a long time. Nothing was to be said...ever...about the mission to outsiders and that meant family as well.

The scientists and other specialists could have been a problem but the ones picked for this effort were dedicated, neither complaining about their housing nor their work environment but simply getting to work with a will and grim determination. Feral was greatly relieved. That attitude made his duties much easier to bear.

The first duties the scientists had while they waited for more of their colleagues to arrive, was to look over their work areas to determine if there were things that needed altering or more equipment that was still needed to accomplish their mission.

Midnight, four days later, an unusual group arrived from the Tymur Federation. Razor had been warned of their arrival by Feral and was told to hightail it to the airport when the plane landed. Acting as the go-between for the two different groups of mystics, he introduced Byron and his two assistants to the foreigners who wore brightly colored robes that reached the ground and were solemn-faced as they met their counterparts. Instead of leaving immediately, Feral was unhappily surprised when he and Razor were asked to step away so the two groups could speak privately.

Sighing mentally in annoyance, Feral just bowed his head and walked back to the van with Razor who trailed after him. They said nothing to each other as they cooled their heels and waited to take the newcomers to Professor Hackle's lab, their eyes and the eyes of the Enforcer guard kept watch for the press and trouble.

When the two groups broke up some ten minutes later, Byron and his people walked away to their own transport while the visitors made for the van and boarded without a word. Razor left then to return home while Feral rode along so he could brief them on their responsibilities to this mission, the need for good security habits, and that all messages between them and Byron's group, himself, and the scientists at the facility was Razor, no one else. The mystics listened closely and nodded their understanding when he finished. He then handed the leader another of the special comm units Razor had given him for their use. After that, the rest of the ride was made in silence.

When they arrived at Hackle's lab, he escorted them to the door which opened just before they reached it. The Professor stood waiting then stepped back and gestured for them to enter before closing the door behind them.

"Greetings. I'm Professor Hackle and I use robots for most of my domestic needs." Two slim built and odd looking robots stood behind the elderly scientist waiting like statues for orders. "These two are called Jacks and Spade..." he pointed to each in turn as he introduced them. "They will be responsible for taking care of all your needs whatever they may be. You will have a complete wing separate from my labs that has access to the outdoors and the beach below. There is also a small kitchen, fully stocked, should you desire to make your own meals as well as for some of your magical workings. I took the liberty of asking Byron what staples you might need and had them laid in."

"That is good to know and thank you for your thoughtfulness, sir. Also, please accept our thanks for opening your special home to us for this urgent mission. We will endeavor not to trouble you much as we know you have a major project to complete as well," the leader said, politely, bowing his head in respect.

"You're very welcome. If there is something my robots can't provide please don't hesitate to inform me," Hackle said, smiling warmly.

"We will, thank you sir. Now if we may settle in?"

"Of course. Jacks...Spade...lead your new responsibilities to their quarters. Tomorrow, when they ask, show them their labs and working space and give them a tour of the outside areas," Hackle ordered his robot duo.

"As you command," Jacks said in a tinny voice then walked off with its companion beside it, their guests following them.

Satisfied they were safe and would be comfortable, Feral took his leave. He was tired and couldn't wait to get home. He rode back to headquarters aboard the van then dismissed the security team to return the van and seek their own beds while he climbed aboard his Hummer and drove home.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

As they geared up for the long mission ahead, in a room at Megakat General Hospital another drama was reaching an end.

Future Feral had enjoyed sleeping and resting in a comfortable bed for the first time in years but his time was slowly and painfully running out.

Felina spent a few hours every day and evening by his side, giving him comfort by her presence and taking any information he'd remembered back to her uncle of the present. It hurt her inside to watch this older version fade away in such pain though he bore it without complaint.

To her surprise and his, the SWAT Kats also dropped in to talk with him. Sometimes it was Razor asking for more details about the many weapons used in the future and other times it was just to talk with him. Hackle also surprised him by stopping by and asking if he remembered what worked and what didn't with his robots.

Then present Feral would stop by late at night before going home to bed and grill his future self about the tactics he used, how the war progressed, and his personal point of view on what he would have done differently had he the chance.

It was kinda creepy to be told what you did in the future and then have yourself tell you what to avoid so you wouldn't repeat those same mistakes. However weird it might seem to him, present Feral took everything his future self said to heart. After all, how often did one get the chance to be told what you were going to do and how to do it differently the second time around.

Just a week before time ran out for future Feral, the present one went by and asked a simple question. "Now that you know you're dying, is there anything you want to say just to get it off your chest? I'm here to listen."

Future Feral stared at him in surprise for a moment then gave a sad smile. "Thank you, I appreciate the offer but I think I've said all I needed or wanted to during our many conversations. As long as you heed what I said and don't make the same mistakes I did, I'll feel my life had meaning toward the end."

Present Feral was silent for a few minutes. Then he reached out and grasped his other self's paw. "You did make a difference and I won't let that be forgotten." Suddenly a grin lit his face. "Even though its myself I'm going to remember and damned if that don't sound truly weird."

His future self managed a small smile of his own. "We always did hate all this weird stuff but it always seems to dog our tail anyway."

"Yea, it surely does." They shared a warm, quiet moment then present Feral said goodnight and left for home.

But as the month drew to a close and the new one began, future Feral felt his life slip away. As breathing became ever more difficult and the pain was getting past the meds they gave him, he wanted to speak to the ones that mattered most to him one last time. It was a late Thursday afternoon when he asked his doctor to summon the ones he'd named off to him.

An hour later, Ms. Briggs, the SWAT Kats, Felina, and Feral were by his bedside.

"Thank you for coming to see me," future Feral wheezed. Speaking was a struggle and he had to halt frequently, his voice barely above a whisper. "I wanted to say something to each of you. I can't say it to the ones I left behind so please understand if what I say to you doesn't make sense it doesn't matter as I need to say this anyway."

"Of course," Callie said, gently, having great difficulty holding back tears. She never thought she'd be affected this way about someone she usually barely tolerated, but this Feral had given his life for his city and his people and his sacrifice reached something inside of her.

"Thank you Callie for making the loss of Felina so much easier to bear. You were a light in the darkness I needed. Felina, I loved you as if you were my own daughter. I am forever grateful I got this one last time to see you alive and healthy. See that you stay that way."

"I promise, Uncle," Felina said, tears falling unashamedly down her face as she held his paw.

"You two..." he looked at the SWAT Kats, "...you may have been a pain in my tail but you have good hearts and you sacrificed much to save us all. Even now you show what you're truly made of...not looking for glory nor fame...just heroes doing what's right and saving lives. See that you stay alive and win this damn war! Don't let our sacrifices be for nothing!"

"We'll win, we promise," T-Bone said for both of them, swallowing down his own emotions at this sad moment, never dreaming he'd feel this badly about someone he used to hate.

"I really don't have much more to say to you, my past self. We've already said all we needed to so just don't repeat what I did and that will be good enough for me," future Feral murmured.

"I will, I promise," present Feral said, a lump in his throat and a sick feeling in his soul. He hoped when he died this second time, it wouldn't be slow like this. On the job or in my sleep, please, he thought. This is just to horrible a way to go.

Having said all he needed to, future Feral closed his eyes and relaxed. In his mind he saw a light and the pain pulled away the closer he got to it. A smile lit his tired face as he saw his niece waiting for him and smiling, her arms open to greet him.

In the room, standing around the bed, the group watched as the exhausted and thin tom gave a long, slow sigh then silence. Only moments later, the machines sang out their warnings. The doctor hurried in, Felina moving away so he could check the patient's vital signs. Only minutes later, he reached out and shut off the noisy machines and said softly, "he's gone."

All bowed their heads a moment. Callie gave a soft spoken invocation for the passing of a leader and prayers for his departed soul. Suddenly a gasp jerked their head up. The doctor was gaping at the body which beginning to fade away until there was no body there. Except for the indentation in the bedding, no one would have thought anyone had been there at all.

"What the hell happened?" the doctor cried.

"I think its because he couldn't be in two places at once. Actually, Commander you shouldn't have been feeling so good sharing the same time and space with your identical self but I think because he was dying, his ties to this world were very weak and allowed this to happen without detriment to you. Now that his soul has left, the body was drawn back to its own time," Razor suggested.

Callie could only shake her head. Feral snorted then sighed, "Guess that's as good an explanation as any. No way to prove one way or another."

"Well, at least we didn't have to figure out how to deal with the body," Callie sighed.

"True."

With that issue dealt with and nothing more to be said, the group broke up and went home. Their focus now on making sure his sacrifice wasn't in vain.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

For the next month, Feral was neck deep in handling the security for the influx of visitors. It was hard keeping such a running stream of outsiders from the press but they managed it. Because this project would last years, a plan was set up to allow the visitors to go home at regular intervals to deal with family and business needs. This would also serve to deflect any curiosity about the mission.

Professor Hackle split his time between his own labs and the ones at the facility. Feral had a designated driver assigned to the professor to help him make the trips safely and securely.

After all was in place and the project was up and running fully, Feral returned to his normal duties though he was also the sole person the whole mission revolved around to keep things flowing smoothly. To his surprise and relief, Steele actually stepped up to the plate. His former second in command had returned to Megakat City a few months back much to Feral's dismay and anger. He thought he'd managed to get rid of him but the powers above him overruled his order and sent the tom back.

However, it was a different Steele that had returned. He was more focused, much of his whiny, self serving behavior had apparently been beaten right out of him by a much rougher superior. It hadn't taken the slim tom long to realize how good he actually had it in Megakat City nor how important his position truly was.

So on his return, he quietly began taking most of the scut work from Feral without the Commander actually being aware of it. Normally, this type of work was done by his assistant, Sgt Fallon but with the advent of the emergency, that worthy was knee deep in mission duties. Seeing this, Steele simply took over the normal day to day duties to free up the Sergeant, not once complaining. What was even better, to Feral's mind, was the fact Steele's management and admin skills had improved.

So when he was able to focus on the routine things of his office, Feral discovered Steele had been taking care of it and only Feral's final sign off was necessary. Not only that, but Steele handled any other matters that didn't concern the mission but the running of the Enforcers as well as any minor complaints from the visitors that didn't deal with the mission so that Fallon and Feral could could continue to run the mission unencumbered.

He eyed his second with some surprise. "You have no problems doing all this?" he asked, still not certain he wasn't being played with.

Steele gave him a firm look as he shook his head. "You have far too much to do, sir, as the single one in charge of saving our world. I consider it an honor to aid you by taking your normal workload off your shoulders. If you would like, I'll give you a weekly report on what's going on in-house, more often if its necessary."

Feral sat back in his seat and just stared thoughtfully at the blond tom. "Well, that's an offer I can't refuse as I know I'll be swamped fairly quickly if I tried to do both jobs and you're right, I can't afford to be distracted from the mission. Very well, so ordered."

Steele saluted and was about to leave when Feral added. "About time Steele, and thank you."

His second blushed, murmured a brief, 'you're welcome, sir,' before hurrying away. Feral just shook his head. "Will wonders never cease," he muttered then reached for the latest report from the facility.


	12. Chapter 12

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 12: Dark Kat's Attempted War**

Some days were more exhausting than others for Feral as he managed his actual job and the secret one that had been dropped in his lap over a year ago today. However, the workload had been eased somewhat by a more efficient second in command and, surprisingly, a comfortable working relationship with those two vigilantes. But that was no surprise as they were an integral part of the mission to save their world from an alien invasion, so he wasn't hung up on the fact they were supposed to be enemies. Today and most every day since the mission began, the pair could be found alternating between additional patrols to his Enforcers and their jobs as part of the mission. Razor spent most of his days at the super secret facility working with the scientists while his partner, T-Bone, was kept busy ferrying people where they needed to go so that secrecy could be maintained. And to make their jobs easier, Feral insured the Turbokat was allowed to refuel at a secret fueling depot used by his Enforcers.

He'd thought they covered everything about working together but there was one area he'd never considered. It wasn't until the SWAT Kats came to see him one day six months in late Spring, after the mission began, that he learned they had a problem.

"_Commander, we need to talk!" The smaller of the two SWAT Kats said grimly. _

_Feral frowned. "What's the problem?" He leaned back in his seat and eyed the approaching pair._

"_Unlike everyone else involved in the mission, we're the only ones who are unable to continue our normal jobs so we're suffering some serious money problems," Razor admitted._

_A look of consternation and annoyance flashed in Feral's eyes. "You should have said something before now. We didn't expect you to ignore your lives for this but do appreciate that you have. What can I do to help?" _

_Razor eyes widened behind his mask, in pleased relief and surprise. He hadn't thought Feral would be this receptive to their difficulties. Feeling more confident that his request wouldn't be blown off, he pressed on. "Too keep you from getting flack for funding us, I suggest a commercial contract be written up laying out the services we're providing during this mission... something similar to ones that are written up for the outside contractors you use for support services you need. This would hide who we are and keep your financials legit while giving us a paycheck to cover what we're losing daily being on call."_

_Feral leaned back and thought about that a moment then nodded. "Good idea and something we should have considered in the first place. I'll have Steele draw up a contract immediately and have you sign it. You should receive a payment by the end of the week. Will that help or do you need an advance?"_

_The SWAT Kats felt a great weight lift from their shoulders. Things at home had gotten very dire financially. With their continual absences, they'd already lost many customers from their garage which had left them seriously in arrears in their debt with the Enforcers. _

_They weren't surprised that Feral would give the task to Steele to take care of either. They'd seen how different the officer was since his return to Megakat City and liked what they'd observed. It was a relief, actually, to know Feral did have a competent officer at his side finally to relieve him of some of the workload as his niece was already fully involved at the facility. So having Steele handle the contract was alright with them._

Smiling gratefully, Razor said, "_Yes, we could use $2,400 right now to catch us up on a debt, then we'll be fine after that. Thank you for doing this. It was becoming a serious distraction for us lately."  
_

_Feral nodded. The amount was barely a drop in the bucket for his expense account and he was certain the amount they required regularly wouldn't be much either. They could have asked for many times that amount if they'd wanted too but he'd since learned they were honest toms and such a thing wouldn't even occur to them. "No problem. I'll take care of it immediately. Anything else happening that could distract you?"_

_This time it was T-Bone that responded. "Naw, that was our worst problem. We're doing alright otherwise, though I'm beginning to miss my partner," he said, grinning wryly. "He's always at the facility and I'm ferrying people so we see little of each other but we knew what to expect when we signed up for this so . . . no . . . no other problems really."_

"_I can well understand how this might be a strain on your friendship. Many are suffering similar difficulties among our 'guests' but what we've told them what I'm going to tell you: Make time for yourselves. This mission is years not days or months long. No one can stay at a high state of alert all the time and stay healthy ... as I'm being constantly reminded," he said with a wry snort._

"_The watch dogs are on you, eh?" T-Bone laughed._

"_Oh yes." They shared a moment of mutual amusement._

"_Good. Then we'll let you be and get back to work. Later!" Razor said, giving Feral a brief high sign before the pair left his office._

He hadn't lied. He had done his best to make time for himself, however, he could never manage more than a day or two before some new problem would drag him back to his desk. The only good luck they'd had were the absence of the omegas all this time. He knew it wouldn't last but the year's freedom from their deprivations was helpful.

As summer waned and fall began, Dark Kat was the first to put in an appearance and in a very big way. He'd apparently been planning and building a respectable size army over those long months. Now, on a late, rainy day in October, he burst on the scene with a huge force of super sized creeplings and a squadron of ninja piloted mini jets.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"Commander, Dark Kat's Black Widow is heading for city hall and us with a squadron of jets and a ground force of some hundred big pink monsters that look like his old creeplings but much bigger," Steele shouted, breathless from his dash from the dispatch center.

Feral jumped to his feet to hurry out of this office but paused before he got off his pedestal. Frowning, he did something he'd never done before, stop and think about what actions would best help the situation. So he turned and went to his bay of windows. Staring out at the slowly darkening horizon, he saw the flight of sleek looking jets heading for his building with the familiar Black Widow leading the way. Turning his gaze to the streets below, he could just make out the pink hoard bearing down on the people who were abandoning or crashing their cars and others who ran screaming and trying to escape the on coming army that stood some fifteen tall and were trashing all in their path.

Scowling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Speed dialing a certain number, he waited impatiently. As soon as he heard the familiar voice on the other end he barked out, "Professor Hackle! Dark Kat is attacking with a huge army. We need a squad of those building size robots of yours to be sent toward city center asap. We can ill afford to waste time in a protracted battle with him nor the damage he'll cause." He listened a moment to the response. "Good, thank you." He closed his phone and dropped it back in his pocket. Turning away from the window he headed for the door.

Steele hurried after him, asking, "So you intend to have Hackle's robots take out the creeplings while we take on his jets?"

"You got it. Put out an alert to the SWAT Kats too though I suspect T-Bone may have already seen this," Feral ordered as he and Steele hurried out the door of his office for the flight line.

"No, I don't think he has. I happen to know he's at the facility doing a pickup."

"Oh, perfect timing then as he can grab his partner and get here sooner," Feral said, pleased that luck was with them. It would have taken T-Bone a loss of time to pick up his partner then join them but with him already in the same place he could expect them in half the time.

"Yes sir!" Steele had already ordered alpha and beta squadrons to alert status when he came to see Feral so their jets would be ready when he and the Commander arrived. As they rode the elevator to the flight line, he carried out his superior's order. He completed his call just as the doors opened and the two of them hurried to their jets. He would lead the beta squadron while Feral lead alpha. In less than ten minutes, alpha was on its way and Steele was following quickly behind him. As he cleared the flight line, he could hear the booming reports of the roof cannons as they fired on the approaching enemy.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

T-Bone was waiting for his passengers when he heard the urgent call over the Enforcer frequency on the radio he'd been given by Feral. Before the message finished, he was already waving off the just arriving scientists and heading for the cockpit.

"City alert! You'll have to wait!" He shouted at them then leaped to the wing and climbed into the cockpit. Tapping his helmet comm as he brought the jet on line. "Razor, alert, Dark Kat! Haul your ass!"

"Roger!" His partner responded. Leaving his work on the bench, Razor raced out of the lab and down the hall. Security had also heard the alarm over their radios and were already opening the secured doors for the hurrying SWAT Kat so he wouldn't be delayed responding. This measure had been installed at the beginning knowing Razor would need to respond to citywide alerts as fast as possible. This was the first time it had been enacted and Razor was pleased it was working flawlessly as he easily got out of the building in under five minutes rather than the twenty it would have normally taken.

Once outside, he passed the watching scientists, reached the jet and leaped aboard. He barely had time to fasten his harness before T-Bone was closing the canopy then taking them airborne.

"What's happening?" the weapon's officer asked as he brought his board on line.

"Dark Kat's attacking with a large army consisting of a squadron of fast jets and some kind of new giant creeplings. Feral has already called for help from the Professor to send his building size robots to take on the creeplings. They should be on site soon," T-Bone briefed hurriedly as he flew the jet toward the scene of battle.

"So glad the Professor got those robots completed a few months ago. They'll be very useful now."

"You're right, so hopefully this will be a short battle."

His partner only grunted in agreement.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The scene they flew into looked like a science fiction nightmare. The fast-moving jets were rapidly taking out Feral's slower ones, sending them spiraling down to the ground causing even more damage to add to what those huge creeplings were doing already on their march to city hall and Enforcer Headquarters.

Rather than fly right into the mess, T-Bone went high so they could get a better idea of where they could do the most damage to Dark Kat's Army and end this battle quicker.

"There's Dark Kat's Black Widow. If we knock him out, the battle should end so let's go see if some of my new inventions will dent his force field," Razor decided after a moment's study.

"Roger!" T-Bone sent the jet plunging down until they were just behind the flying behemoth that was making mincemeat of Feral's jets.

For the next ten minutes the battle was fought on three sides and was fierce. Feral had his nearly decimated squadrons pull back to give the Turbokat room against the Black Widow, then sent them against the enemy jets. Below, he could see Professor Hackle's robots had made the scene and was easily collecting the creeplings (not killing them he noted and sighed). What the hell he was going to do with the creatures he had no idea but he knew the Professor would not allow his robots to kill and he could sympathize a little with that mind set. Oh well, at least the creeplings would be out of the picture.

He focused his attention back on fighting the jets, cursing when his niece nearly got her wings clipped but managing to slip away just in time. Admonishing her, he went after a small cluster of jets below him and nearly got himself wiped out.

Meanwhile, the Turbokat had already traded blows with Dark Kat, Razor had gone through a few of his new weapons with only marginal success against the force shield. Baring his teeth in angry concentration, Razor was forced to switch to something a bit stronger that he'd been loathed to use so close to buildings but since they couldn't entice DK into the clearer sky, he'd have to hope the damage would be minimal. It was more important to stop the mutants reign of terror now as he was getting the upper paw against them.

"When I fire this next missile pull up fast, buddy!" he warned his partner.

"Got it!"

"Missile away!"

T-Bone immediately sent the Turbokat climbing straight up. Behind him there was a bright bloom of light. The shock wave hit the tail of the jet and sent them into a disorienting spin. Cursing, T-Bone fought the yoke as the jet whirled violently and headed for the ground at an alarming speed. Finally, with just enough room, he regained control and skimmed the street before regaining altitude.

"Crud, Razor! What the heck was that?" he demanded to know once they were safely flying along again.

"Something as a last resort, buddy. Nice recovery, by the way!"

T-Bone snorted then looked below them. "Wow! That was something special alright."

Razor looked down too. All that was left of the Black Widow was a twisted mass of metal laying in a crater it had made of the street below. The damage had been confined to that small crater. T-Bone winced at the mess but Razor just sighed in relief. The missile had worked like he hoped, causing an implosion rather than explosion.

"Hey buddy, maybe we should ask the professor to have his robots clean up the mess those creeplings made and haul away that scrap heap, hmm? It would certainly cut the city's costs of clean up and get done quicker," he suggested as they passed over the scene.

"Good idea. I'll call Feral and suggest it but this battle isn't over yet. Let's go get the last of those bastards!"

"Roger!" While T-Bone sent them hurtling toward a small cluster of jets that seemed to be trying to escape, Razor contacted Feral. The Commander was a bit preoccupied and missed most of what Razor had said so he had to repeat it.

"Oh, yeah . . . good idea . . . crud! Bastard . . . take that!" Feral cursed as an enemy jet tried to take his tail off. "If you got a sec go ahead and do that, I'm a bit busy!"

"No problem." Razor switched frequencies and contacted the professor who gladly agreed to the cleanup work.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Less than thirty minutes later the battle was finally over. The rest of the enemy jets had been brought down, the creeplings were hauled away to a facility the professor had set up for them so they could be studied, and the damages were well on their way to being cleaned up much to the Mayor's relief.

"Callae, look! Those robots of Hackle's are beginning to clean up. That will save the tax payers a good chunk of money and it looks like Feral already has his crew there too."

"Yes Mayor. It looks like it will all be cleared away in half the time it normally is. Though the Black Widow looks like a ball of metal now that doesn't mean we've seen the last of Dark Kat. I'll call the Commander to see what that criminal's status is," Callie said, relieved the battle was over.

"Good idea," Manx sighed, returning to his desk and the small amount of work waiting. Since the appearance of future Feral and the information that their future was at risk, Manx had been forced to take back most of his responsibilities as Callie was an integral part of the mission. His carefree days at the golf course were extremely limited now and he knew better not to complain about it.

Callie left him to his work as she returned to her office and called Feral, luckily catching him just returning to his office.

"At least you saved me a call, Ms. Briggs. No, Dark Kat is alive, unfortunately, and is already in the prison infirmary," he informed her.

"Hopefully he'll not get away so easily this time with all those new changes you've made to the special holding cells for these guys."

"We'll just have to wait and see Ms. Briggs."

"I suggest you use his recovery as the best time to press him about his possible cooperation," Callie said without elaborating.

Feral scowled though she couldn't see it then sighed. She was right. This was the right opportunity to get the cooperation of the omega. He still didn't like the idea much but couldn't deny that the evil tom was a genius and they couldn't afford to dismiss such people.

"Agreed. I might be able to talk with him tomorrow. I'll keep you informed."

"Thanks."

After hanging up with her, Feral set to work on the mess created by the battle and planned how he would try and convince an omega that he wasn't crazy when he asked for DK's help.


	13. Chapter 13

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 13: Making a Believer of Dark Kat**

It was more than three days before Feral could speak with Dark Kat. Though powerful and a mutation of a Kat, the implosion of the Black Widow had done considerable damage to the omega.

The room in the prison infirmary was a heavily fortified one that would ensure their prisoner could not escape easily. Feral had to pass through four security entry points before even reaching the hospital bed Dark Kat was strapped down to. The omega was hooked up to a variety of monitoring devices and was receiving a couple of IVs.

The omega looked even more ugly than normal with his face bandaged on one side covering one eye and going across his head with his long weird ears sticking upward like blades; multiple cuts painted his arms, neck, and chest. A leg and arm on opposing sides were in slings and hanging in the air. No way was he getting up any time soon.

Approaching the bed, Feral eyed the omega watchfully. Badly injured or not, this omega was extremely dangerous. The dark tom had his weapon in his paw by his side just in case. The door behind him closed with a loud thunk of heavy duty locks falling into place. He was effectively sealed in here with his enemy.

"Seems odd to have you as a visitor," a deep, hoarse voice commented.

Feral stared into a pair of orange eyes with no pupils. Dark Kat's expression was a combination of pain and cold interest. It was disconcerting to be staring down at what was supposedly a Kat (no one had been able to prove otherwise despite his strange outer appearance) but was the color of grape jelly and having a mouth that looked like a bear trap...creepy!

"Believe it or not, I've come to ask your aid."

Dark Kat's one eyebrow rose in surprised derision. "If you are trying for humor, you are failing miserably, Commander."

"What I have to say affects everyone on our world, not just Megakat City."

"I'm listening," Dark Kat said blandly though there was a gleam of curiosity in his one good eye.

Over the next thirty minutes, Feral told Dark Kat of the aliens coming to take over the world, who had brought them this warning, and what was being done to try to save them. The sound of his voice drifted off into silence as Dark Kat absorbed this stunning news.

His first thought was 'this is a trick' but that made no sense as Feral wasn't given to such a thing nor did he see the Commander gaining anything by telling his enemy such a fantastic story. Then there was the fact the entire world's military forces were taking this serious enough to send representatives to this very city which certainly showed definite belief and intent.

He didn't tell Feral this but his minions had brought him word of something strange going on. Many visitors were arriving in the city and disappearing somewhere. An old facility had been revitalized and heavily secured. The SWAT Kats had been seen crossing the skies more frequently than was normal. Yes, something was definitely up.

However, his plans were too far along for him to want to abort them at this juncture despite his concern something was off in the city. So when he launched his attack, he kept an eye for anything else that was suspicious about the city defenders behavior and, immediately, he saw proof of things not going the way they should.

It showed in the fierceness of the defense against his forces then the appearance of those giant robots taking out his creepling army, and, finally, the new weaponry from those insufferable SWAT Kats that took out his ship so easily. The whole affair had the feeling of urgency to end the fight quickly as if he was pulling them from something far more important than their enemy's bid to take over the city.

Now armed with Feral's explanation, he knew what was going on. However, despite all the evidence, he was still not convinced. Well, who would be? An alien invasion years from now that would wipe their species out; the warning coming from a future Feral who had since died of radiation poisoning; and the fantastic information that it was a pod built by him and a SWAT Kat that had sent that Feral here in the first place ... yeah, definitely unbelievable.

So here was Feral asking for his help and telling him that he'd already done so in that distant future but that it had been too little too late to save their species except for this harebrained idea of sending one of them into their past, which had succeeded.

"I'll leave you be now to think about it and to help you, I'll send a copy of the disk of the interview with my future self so you can see and hear for yourself that what I'm telling you is very real. Just remember this... we don't need you that badly. So if you decide to not help then you'll be sent to a cell that you won't find easy to escape from as we don't have time to chase your ass. It's up to you how you want to spend your time while we try to save our world from extinction." With that, Feral turned and signaled the guard to let him out. He gave Dark Kat a last look before stepping through the opening door and vanishing from view.

Dark Kat lay frowning at the ceiling for many hours, even after the promised disc was brought an hour later and he watched it. After dinner, he finally came to a decision. He had no desire to sit in a cell with nothing to do while knowing a war was approaching. No way did he want some alien species taking _his_ city before he could conquer it himself.

When shift change occurred, the guard checking the prisoner shivered in worried concern at the strange smile on the prisoner's face...wondering what the strange tom could be thinking or worse ... what he could be plotting now.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

As Dark Kat lay in his hospital bed and thought about how he could be a part of saving their world while furthering his own plans for Megakat City, over at the secret facility a certain SWAT Kat was wanting to beat his head against a wall.

"Hold it!" Razor said loudly getting everyone's attention in the planning room.

Angry, annoyed, and fuming faces eyed him impatiently. The current disagreement had been going on for more than an hour now and Razor felt it time to step in.

"Look, you've already been told that magic is what's going to save our world. All we here at this facility are supposed to be doing is coming up with the new weapons and equipment that will help protect the magic workers while do their thing. To do this we have to think outside the conventional and come up with new and radical ideas no ones ever thought of because all the normal methods and inventions will fail. This constant bickering about what can and can't work is wasting valuable time."

Razor felt like pulling his fur out. At the heart of the fighting was the difference of approaches between the more staid older members and the younger more radical generation. Their minds were more flexible and could think outside the box more easily than their older colleagues.

There was a strong desire on some to kick the older guys out but the more experienced scientists and inventors were just as important as the younger firebrands as they were more level headed and could rein in the drift toward the absurd and impractical and back toward more plausible solutions where necessary.

However, there was no doubt that a few of the older members were a bit too hidebound to old standards and it was they who were causing the strife with their 'it can't be done' attitudes. Hence all the bickering. Their insistence that certain ideas just couldn't work stalled forward progress more times than Razor could count since the project began a year ago.

Lately, there had been times when he wished he could just have them go home. This was supposed to be the brightest and most daring group of free thinkers in the world but he suspected some of those countries had bowed to the insistence of a particular older scientist who felt they should be a part of something this important even though their mind set was actually a detriment to the groups goal.

Shaking his head, he realized he needed to speak with Feral and see about sending some of these guys packing...damn the political consequences. They were talking about the survival of their species here. This wasn't the time or place to be worrying about currying favors, one-up-man-ship, or political and military maneuverings.

And how the hell had he ended up being the mediator anyway? Ever since he began working with these guys, he found himself halting his work more and more often just to mediate this ongoing disputes. It was getting old and he was fast losing patience. This small core group was the heart of the project, the brainiest minds who would come up with the designs that the rest of the facility would turn into prototypes. Others would test the prototypes, then, when and if the tests were successful, pass them onto the manufacturers who would mass produce them. So it was important they work together not at cross purposes.

Thankfully, there was a pawful within this group who had no problem thinking outside the box or working together. And they just happened to be from Megakat City: Professor Hackle, Dr. Greenbox, Dr. Konway, and a small pawful of weapon's designers from Pumadyne. Perhaps it was because of all the wackiness this city threw at them, but they had no problem bringing up truly wild ideas into the discussions then picking them apart to see what might work. This was the group Razor normally was a part of.

It wasn't unusual for the main group to break into smaller ones but at least once a week all these smaller groups would get together and discuss what progress they'd made then pick what designs seemed feasible to build. This was when the conflicts would start up and as time went on the disagreements began to take over the meetings and little was actually getting done.

So here he was again trying to soothe ruffled feathers and wondered for the nth time how he had ended up in the role of mediator in the first place.

I definitely have to speak to Feral, he grumbled mentally as he prevented an irate younger scientist from landing a fist in the face of a surly older weapon's designer, both from out country.


	14. Chapter 14

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 14: Booting Troublemakers and Creepling Care**

Feral was rubbing his face and trying to read through the night's reports from the facility besides ones from his Enforcer night shift when an irate SWAT Kat stormed into his office.

He blinked in surprise as Razor stalked angrily up to his pedestal and stared at him across the expanse of Feral's paper laden desk.

"You have to send some of these volunteers home!" Razor said without preamble.

"What? Why?"

The slim SWAT Kat scowled. "I have strong suspicions that some of the people we were sent came here on false pretenses."

Feral frowned. "Why would you think that?"

"By their inability to think flexibly which is what we asked for. Their only interest, obviously, isn't to save our world as much as it is to make a name for themselves or curry favors with their governments. It's apparent to me they forced their leaders to send them regardless of the fact they haven't the mindset we needed. They hid their agendas well but over the past six months, they've revealed their true intent by preventing progress."

"How are they doing that?" Feral asked, a little skeptical. He didn't disbelieve Razor but personalities were bound to clash in such an eclectic group.

"By refusing to open their minds to many of the rather off the wall ideas put forth by some of the more radical of the inner group which is exactly what we needed but not something these few are capable of entertaining," Razor fumed. "Instead, they argue incessantly on how impossible the ideas are which starts fights. I've wasted valuable time acting as mediator...which, by the way, I didn't volunteer for, ... to try and keep the peace but it's become a losing battle and, frankly, I'm tired of trying to handle it. Besides, it's seriously derailing all the free thinkers from the task at paw. If we are to get designs finished so prototypes can start to be made by end of this year, then those waste-of-space individuals must go home."

This was serious and, it was a measure of their new cooperative partnership, that Feral didn't question or disbelieve Razor's accusations and concerns. He trusted the SWAT Kats judgement in this critical area. So shaking his head in digust, he said, "Fine. Give me their names and I'll see that they're removed and returned home, immediately."

Actually surprised but not showing it, Razor nodded tightly, inwardly very relieved, as he handed over a list he'd made. Then, with no further words, turned and hurried out. He was glad Feral hadn't quibbled about this as he didn't have time or patience left to argue why these scientists were just plain trouble. With a freer mind, he hastened to return to his own interrupted work.

When the SWAT Kat vanished out the door, Feral rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. Kat's Alive! Now I have to act like a damn diplomat and send these guys packing without stepping on too many political toes doing it, he thought, irritably. Opening the folded sheet of paper, he glanced at the list and groaned at the sight of a couple of names but didn't let it stop him from reaching out for his phone and punching in numbers to make the first of many calls to some soon to be angry leaders.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

By late afternoon, he had his Enforcers unobtrusively round up the individuals on Razor's list, had them quickly whisked to their temp quarters to pack then driven to Enforcer Headquarters for transport. Normally, such delicate matters would take several days to accomplish but Feral was relieved to discover, these individual's leaders were very quick to understand the problem and agreed to retrieve them without argument. Some even apologized for the problems their person caused (most likely the ones who had been coerced against their better judgement in the first place). All promised that secrecy would continue to be maintained when their people returned home so security would not be compromised by a disgruntled scientist's complaints to their fellows, friends, or family.

With the last scientist's jet departing his flight line (shock of shock, jets had been sent to retrieve their people quickly which meant they were just as upset as Feral at their people's shameful behavior), Feral could return to work, albeit with a headache he hoped lunch and aspirin would take care of.

He sighed when he sat down at his desk and saw the container with the delicious aroma rising from it. A fresh cup of coffee and a bottle of aspirin were also waiting for him. Smiling, he opened the white box and saw a roasted tuna sandwich with all the trimmings. His stomach growled angrily and he responded by picking up the sandwich and taking a healthy bite.

What a lucky tom I am to have such a thoughtful and efficient assistant. He didn't know how on earth Sgt Fallon found the time but he never forgot to try and care for his superior's needs despite his own hefty workload.

That tom deserves a raise in rank and pay! He thought, his hunger pangs easing. I'll be sure to take care of that when all this is over. Setting his sandwich down, he grabbed the aspirin bottle, shook out several tablets then downed them with a large slurp of coffee.

Feeling much better, he slowly ate his late meal and went back to work. A hurriedly written note came to light when he got down towards the bottom of the messages and reports from the facility.

He didn't recognize the handwriting at first. All the note said was, _"Sir, know giant creeplings are a problem but think they will be a great benefit in the mission as cannon fodder. Consider they be cared for carefully and guarded well for this possible use, sincerely, Dr. Konway."_ Feral blinked at that for several seconds before exploding into laughter.

When he could control himself again, he pulled his notepad out and wrote up an order for the creeplings to be taken to the zoo. He would call the director and request that the zoo keep the creeplings in a hidden enclosure and keep them healthy. He didn't know of anyone else that could be equipped to handle those things...they certainly couldn't at Megakat Prison where they were at the moment. Normally the things were killed not kept alive and the prison had already been demanding he get them out as they were far too dangerous and impossible to feed and care for.

He was forced to agree and the zoo did seem the better option. He also wrote a return message to Konway. _"Excellent idea doctor. Creeplings will be sent to zoo for their care and maintenance. Keep the ideas coming! Commander Feral."_ He reached out and flicked his intercom on.

"Mary, I need something typed ASAP."

"Yes sir!"

Moments later, his secretary walked briskly into his office and up to his desk. He handed her his notes as he used his other paw to reach for the phone again. "Normal number of copies, Mary," he told her before turning his attention to the voice that answered his call. His secretary said nothing as she accepted the papers then hurried off to carry out his order.

"Yes, this is Commander Feral. I need to speak to Director Clawburn, please."

"Commander Feral, is something wrong? It isn't normal for you to call us," A light tenor voice asked, concern in the tone.

"I know and it's an unusual request I'm making of you." Feral explained what he needed.

"Absolutely not! Those...things...aren't even natural creatures and we have no knowledge of their needs or food requirements much less anywhere to keep such dangerous creatures," The director objected, hotly.

"I understand your objections but it doesn't matter. The situation we're facing is unusual and a threat to the city's welfare. I know we normally put these things down not keep them alive but alive is what we require this time. The reason is secret and on a need to know basis so I'm unable to tell you why they are so important, only that they are and you are the only place capable of keeping healthy something that is very much alive even if unnatural."

A snort of disbelief and anger came over the line. Truthfully, Feral didn't blame the tom.

"Commander Feral, your reasons are so nebulous and open ended that I can't legally justify doing what you ask nor get the board of directors to agree to it either. Plus, there's the funds needed to make special housing, provide whatever it is they eat, and figure out what kind of care they might need. Do you see what I'm up against?"

Feral sighed. "I do indeed but it must be done..." He started to say then paused...the director was right...he did have to answer to a board but there might be a way to get what he needed, force the zoo to take the creeplings on, and get the board to cooperate. But he needed to verify if his hunch was correct. "...excuse me, but I had an idea that will help us both. I need to check it out first. I'll get back to you by end of today, so please stay available."

"By the sound of that, I'm going to learn more about creeplings than I ever wanted to know," Clawburn moaned, bitterly.

"Think of it as a new subject you could tell the public when this all over. It would make for an interesting draw for the zoo," Feral suggested more to say something conciliatory rather than truly serious about it.

"Hmm, you might have something there, Commander," Clawburn said, thoughtfully. Feral rolled his eyes. Now that should be something to see...not! Oh well whatever made the tom happy, he really didn't care.

"I'll call you later," he repeated, ending the call. A sigh of annoyance and resignation was the last thing he heard. Though he understood the tom's position it didn't matter. This had to be done and the zoo was the only option. Hanging up, Feral then put in a call to Ms. Briggs.

"Ms. Briggs I have a small problem I need some advice on," he said the moment the deputy mayor came on the line.

"I'm listening..."

While retaining the secrecy needed, he explained, "Dark Kat's creatures need to be kept alive but the prison isn't the place to hold them for the duration. The zoo is the better option, however, they are understandably resistant. We need something that will force them to do this as well as appease their board of directors plus funding the things care. I think there's something in the city's emergency plan that will allow this but it will require the Mayor's executive order to enforce it. Since this doesn't fall under my purview, I'm calling you to get this accomplished."

At first Callie didn't know what part of the plan he meant but then it clicked. "Oh right, I think I know what section you're referring to. Let me check it out and if it's what we need, which I'm fairly certain it does, I'll get the order written up quickly and have Manx sign it. Funds aren't a problem as this falls under the program already set up. I'll get to it immediately and call you when I have it done."

"Perfect, thank you, Ms. Briggs." Satisfied, Feral hung up. Another issue on its way to being solved.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Callie put her other work aside and went to her file cabinet to retrieve the city's emergency plan. The fairly thick file was a bit heavy and unwieldy but she managed to get it to her desk and dropped it with a thunk. Knowing about where the section she needed was located, she flipped through the file quickly then stopped at the right page. She spent the next fifteen minutes reading the section in question and smiled in relief when she found it would indeed work for what they needed.

Quickly, she wrote up a draft of an executive order using the passage from the plan and sent it off with an urgent flag for her secretary to get it done immediately. Within a half hour the document was ready and Callie was taking it into Manx. Explaining what it was for she wasn't surprised when he grimaced in distaste about keeping the creeplings around at all but did reluctantly admit the idea was brilliant.

"I know Director Clawburn isn't going to like this but I'm forced to agree that's the best solution for all. And I find it ironic that we'll have a better use for those disgusting creatures than Dark Kat intended them for," he snorted, grimly amused as he signed the paper.

"I certainly agree with that and thank you Mayor. I'll get this copied right away and delivered to Feral," Callie said, equally amused. Returning to her secretary, Callie had her copy the document while she put in a call to Feral.

"Commander, I found the passage and it will work. I've already written up the executive order and the Mayor has signed it. If you'll send a messenger to pick it up, you'll be able to get what you need done quickly."

A grunt of approval greeted her ear. "Thank you for the quick work, Ms. Briggs. Steele happens to be out already so I'll have him swing by to pick it up then take it to the zoo for me."

"Glad to be of service, Commander. Good evening to you and remember to leave and get some rest," she reminded him, warmly.

"Only if you will," he retorted, amused. She laughed and they both hung up.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

When Lt. Commander Steele picked up the order from city hall he was highly amused and pleased with the reason behind it. When the Commander sent him on this errand he'd explained what had prompted it. Steele had been surprised to learn it had been Dr. Konway who had suggested keeping the creeplings so they could be used as a weapon against the future enemy. What an elegant solution, he thought with a smile. He had to admit, he wouldn't have thought of it.

When he handed the order over to Director Clawburn, the tom was decidedly unhappy but acknowledged the legitimacy of the Mayor's signed command and told Steele he would need time to prepare what was required to hold these things.

"I understand. As we don't want this to be a hardship for you sir, we'll provide you with copies of notes taken on the creeplings by Dr. Konway of our Biotech Lab and Warden Denton of Megakat Prison, in whose care the creeplings are now," Steele offered, politely.

"That will certainly be a help as no one here has any idea about these things except how dangerous they are and that they apparently eat meat?" The last a wondering question.

Steele grimaced but did know the answer. "It's true, I'm afraid."

"We have no real problem with that except we'll need a increase in our meat budget to handle them."

"Not a problem, sir. The city is picking up the tab."

Clawburn relaxed somewhat with that assurance. "Well, that's a relief. Understand...it will take a some time to convert one of our holding cages to handle these things. You did want them hidden as well so we have to consider our options then reinforce our choice." Steele nodded his head. The director was talking more to himself then the Enforcer at the moment. "If you have a moment, sir, it would be appreciated if you would talk to my people about what these things need...that's if you know enough to answer their questions?"

Steele nodded. "It so happens I do..."

"Good. Wait there and I'll contact who we need to talk to." Clawburn made a few calls then over the next thirty minutes, Steele briefed the director's hastily gathered designers and zoo managers on the needs of their unusual temporary guests.

By the time he left, Steele felt reasonably certain the zoo could take care of the creeplings. He made a note to get the information the director needed from Konway and the warden ASAP too. As a matter of fact, since he would have to tell the warden he would be losing the creeplings very soon, he might as well take care of that right now. It took him about thirty minutes to reach the prison but soon he was in the warden's office. The slim, but powerfully built tom was happy the creeplings would be gone but unhappy about how long he'd have to wait to be free of them.

"Oh no way! We're not equipped to handle these things. They've already injured some of my officers while we try to care for them," the warden growled angrily. "And it's costing a lot to feed those things the raw meat they eat."

"Easy, I understand, believe me. However, it won't be that much longer. Only until the zoo can make quarters that are strong enough to hold the creeplings safely. You've done a good job so far, just hold out a bit longer," Steele soothed him.

Warden Denton sighed in defeat. "Yeah, okay. At least I know they'll be gone but you'd better find a way to get more meat to us. Those things are ravenous eaters and we're just not equipped to provide them with that much raw meat."

"I'll see if I can find a way to get some from either butchers or through the zoo resources since they have to feed meat eaters too. I'll get right on it, promise. By the way, I now you've been keeping notes on what you've been doing to keep the creeplings healthy and contained. Director Clawburn at the zoo could use that information. Can I get a copy for him?"

"Sure, no problem and thank you for helping us out. Let's go see my secretary and get you that information."

"Thank you. I've got to be getting back soon so I'm glad it won't take long to get the info" Steele said as he rose from his seat.

"Sure, understand. By the way, just why are we keeping these things instead of disposing of them as usual?" The warden asked as he escorted the Lieutenant Commander out the door.

"Sorry, that's classified. All I can say is they'll be put to good use very soon," Steele smirked.

Giving Steele a puzzled expression, the warden shrugged and accepted that he wouldn't be told anything as he turned to his secretary and asked her to make a copy of the required info. He said goodbye to the Commander's second and returned to his office. Only minutes later, with info in paw, Steele made his way out of the prison and was soon on the road back to the city.

On the drive back, satisfied with how his mission had gone so far, Steele made a note to get the notes Konway had and to contact the zoo about getting food to the prison for the creeplings and prepared what he was going to say in his briefing to the commander. Feral would be pleased with what he'd gotten done and maybe that would be enough to convince the big tom to go home. Feral was bad about taking time to relax but with all that was on his shoulders, who could blame him. However, it was his and Sgt Fallon's sworn duty to see that their leader got his rest and he took that duty very seriously.


	15. Chapter 15

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 15: Dark Kat's Decision **

"How are we feeling today?" The prison doctor asked the supine form of Dark Kat, who was still secured to his hospital bed. He was only a little nervous around the prisoner but with four guards in the room with him, he felt reasonably safe.

Dark Kat grunted in disinterest, giving the doctor a bored glare from his good eye. The cast on his leg and arm ached fiercely and he had a headache but he wasn't about to admit to the idiot how much discomfort he was in.

Dr. Shornhold didn't care if the patient spoke to him or not. He was more interested in checking the omega over as his duty required. Being very careful to keep all his medical gear away from the prisoner, he performed a quick examination then checked the IVs to insure they were running well and finishing with a check of the monitors the patient was hooked up to. Satisfied, the doctor made some notes in the patient's records then turned to leave but was halted by a deep gravely voice that sent shivers down his back.

"I have a message for Commander Feral. Tell him, I accept."

The doctor looked over his shoulder and stared in confusion. "You accept what?"

"He'll know what I mean. Be sure he gets the message or he will be vexed with you for not delivering it," Dark Kat said coldly then closed his one good eye and ignored the doctor and guards.

Shaking his head, the doctor huffed and stalked out of the cell. He wasn't some glorified messenger kat, he thought, annoyed. However, it wouldn't do to fail and deliver the message since Commander Feral was involved.

Cursing under his breath, Dr. Shornhold paused at the nurses station and used the phone on the desk. After going through several minions and cursing some more, he was finally connected to the ridiculously busy Commander.

"Feral!" A deep voice barked from the receiver in the doctor's ear. Wincing, Shornhold held the phone away before answering. Commander, this is Dr. Shornhold at the prison. Dark Kat demanded I give you a message."

Feral sucked in a breath. "What did he say?"

"Only... I accept! You know what he's talking about?"

"Yes I do and thank you for sending it onto me. How long will he be incapacitated?" Feral asked.

"He's only been here three days, Commander and is badly injured. I would have to estimate about a week or more before he's able to rise from his bed at all."

"Understood. When he's able to be up and about, I need to be informed ASAP," Feral ordered then hung up, not waiting for a response.

The doctor held the buzzing phone for a moment. Well, how rude! And since when did I become the go between here? Even more annoyed, he slammed down the phone, picked up another stack of patient records, and went on with his rounds, dismissing the call from his mind.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

After he'd hung up, Feral immediately retrieved the special communicator that connected him to Razor. Depressing the button, he waited some minutes before he got a response. That didn't bother him as he still had plenty to do before him. Then a distracted voice spoke through the speaker of the tiny device.

"Yeah, what do you need?" Razor asked, shortly.

"Got a message from Dark Kat ... he's willing to work with us. May take him a couple of weeks before he's well enough to be of use, however."

"Okay, thanks for telling me. We may have some ideas to bounce off him in the meantime if you'll allow visitation by some of us with him. Don't want to waste time waiting for him to join us."

"Hmm, I don't like it. Security would have to be suspended during your visit so no one outside of the mission doesn't hear what's being discussed. It carries too high a risk even with you armed."

"I hear ya...I hate to delay that long but you're right, it will have to wait until he's here," Razor agreed, though his tone indicated he wasn't too happy about it.

"It may not be that long a wait. He seems to be a fast healer if you recall how quickly he always seems to be on his feet again and in our face when we thought he was down for good," Feral reminded him.

A sigh greeted his ear. "Yeah, I remember so he may well be at our door by the start of next week perhaps. Don't forget, Feral, Dark Kat had been really hurt this time out."

"I'm aware but he still might have abilities we don't know about, he is a mutation you know. Anyway, thought you'd like a heads up that he's on board with us."

"Appreciate it. Oh, and thanks for the speedy riddance of those troublemakers."

"No problem. Say, while I have you on the line, when are you supposed to work with the magic users? I haven't received a report on their progress recently and I thought I was told you were supposed to be working with them?"

Unseen by Feral, Razor sighed and grimaced. Getting into the magic stuff was not his cup of tea but Feral was right, he had been told he played a significant part in that phase of the mission.

"You're right and no, I haven't been to see them since earlier in the month. I'll make time and go out to see them tomorrow and give you an update," Razor told him.

"Good. Tomorrow then," Feral said, making a note and clicking off the comm unit.

Putting his comm in the pocket of his g-suit, Razor sighed then looked over his shoulder at the group he'd been working with all morning. They hadn't even noticed his absence yet, which amused him a little. We're all so dedicated that the world passes us by without notice, he mused.

Better finish up what I want done today before I have to be elsewhere, he sighed to himself, returning to the group.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"Well hello stranger, to what do I owe this visit," Chance drawled, surprised but pleased to see his partner.

Jake had been staying at the facility more of late so Chance didn't see him much. His own responsibilities were to keep the garage running, ferry scientists and supplies, and do patrols. It kept him from pining for his friend except when on patrol where he keenly missed his partner.

Jake smiled wanly. "Yeah, I know I've not been around much, sorry..."

"Hey, none of that," Chance cut him off. "I know how important your part is in this whole thing so no apologies. But why are you here are at this hour?" It was eight in the morning and Chance had just opened the garage.

"Feral reminded me, I haven't been to the magical enclave since the others arrived and he hasn't gotten a report from them recently. So I have to run out there. One of Feral's patrols brought me in late last night so I could get some sleep then take out the cyclotron this morning."

"Oh, that's right...you're supposedly part of the work their doing." Chance nodded. "Anything else new happening?"

"Well, the latest is we've gotten at least four more plans done and in the manufacturer's paws for making the prototypes. Also, Dark Kat has agreed to join us though we have to wait until he's on his feet again."

"I have to admit, I really didn't think he'd do it."

"I didn't either but I suspect it was a choice of sitting in a cell knowing we're doing some radical work or joining in. I know for certain it isn't because he wants to save the world."

Chance snorted at that. "Yeah, not likely. The only problem though is having to watch him like a hawk. He could still think we're having him on and decide to take some invention ideas and run."

"Definitely a risk, I know, but we need his evil bent of mind that can create killing devices. Most of us make things that only maim or incapacitate, killing isn't usually the goal which is why we need him, unfortunately." Jake sighed unhappily.

His friend grimaced at that imperative but knew Jake was right. "Nothing like working with the enemy. Anyway, you headed out now?"

"Yeah. Take care, buddy."

"You to Jake."

Jake hurried to the back of the garage and down the manhole that lead to the hangar. Soon he was zooming out the secret entrance and off down the road, heading out of the city.


	16. Chapter 16

**MISSION: SAVING THE WORLD**

**Chapter 16: Magical Business **

Though there were two magical enclaves, Razor decided he should check in with Byron's before going to the one discreetly hiding and working in Professor Hackle's labs.

He hardly noticed the ride itself, traveling on autopilot while his mind was back in the lab. There was so much to cover and even though they still had two more years to complete their plans, it still felt to him like they might not make it in time before the aliens dropped in on them.

Despite the number of people working on this, it still seemed there was far too much yet to be done . . . the designs for weapons and machines were only just beginning to be built and would still need to be tested once they were. When they were ready, the Enforcers and auxiliary soldiers and mercenaries would need to be trained on their use; the battle plans being written, needed to be tested in real field maneuvers; evacuation training hadn't yet been initiated with the populace and that would be a big hurdle to accomplish as it had to be done carefully so as to prevent panic and gain their cooperation. The very wealthy and very poor would be the most difficult to get on board with the program and he didn't envy Callie trying to get that accomplished.

The list seemed endless and he had only a portion of those tasks as his own and still felt overwhelmed.

He sighed and tried to focus more on a positive attitude. Constantly worrying about what needed to be done, was totally unproductive. Besides, they weren't falling behind schedule . . . if anything, they were far ahead already so he should stop worrying himself into a hole. He shoved all that away and made himself focus only on what was ahead of him today.

They already knew magic was the most important component of the war effort. Everything else was a useless waste of time and effort without it. However, it was still hard to get some of the scientists, inventors, military leaders, and others involved in this project to truly believe that. They were too used to using science and technology to win their fights. It rubbed everyone the wrong way to think magic was how this war would be won.

And he didn't blame them. He too was deeply rooted in science and technology. However, Byron and his people seemed to think he had magic within him and had been using it all along even though there were none of the obvious signs he was familiar with to show that or convince him of it. But, then he didn't have the knowledge or experience to debate that with them in the first place.

The thought of Byron brought his mind immediately back to the road and the realization that he was about to whizz by the drive that led to the hidden farm. Mentally scolding himself, he cut his speed then turned sharply onto the winding dirt road.

Byron and three other males stood on the wrap around porch, watching him approach. That always creeped him out a bit to see them waiting for him. He hadn't called ahead but they always seemed to know when he was coming.

Nearing the house and about to pull to a stop, Razor saw Byron gesture for him to continue on toward the back of the house. Razor nodded his understanding and continued on toward the rear of the home as ordered. The toms went back through the house to meet him on the other side.

As Razor came around the cedar sided house and his eyes were immediately drawn to the beautifully landscaped yard and gardens with a forest behind it. A stone patio reached out from the back of the house for about ten feet then a brilliantly green lawn stretched to the forest wall. To the left of this was a large garden filled with well-tended herbs, vegetables, interspersed with flowers that filled the air with a lovely perfume. At the center of the garden stood a beautifully made statue of a maiden holding an umbrella. From the top of it, water sprayed out to cover the garden with life-giving liquid once every four hours.

To the far right and beyond the trees, fields of wheat, corn, and alfalfa grew, making a patchwork of green and gold. At the left edge of the fields sat three huge barns. He knew from experience that one was for the draft horses they used to till the soil, the one next to it was where their dairy cows were milked, and the final one nearest the house was where all their farm equipment was stored.

The community derived their living from the plants they grew, the milk products they produced, and the herbal remedies they made. To Razor's tired city spirit it was heaven and he loved coming out here from time to time to drink up that peace.

Before the emergency, he'd begun coming here two or three times a month to help harvest, milk the cows, chop wood, and till the fields besides anything else they might need done. It was mindless work that helped quiet his racing thoughts and recharged him to go on with the dangerous career he'd chosen.

He'd tried to convince Chance to come out a few times but gave up when his partner always declined. The tabby admitted the community made him a little nervous and uncomfortable. Razor could understand the feeling, it was one he had when he first came here, but it had just as quickly faded away and all he sensed was comfort now whenever he dropped by.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he noticed something different today. On the lawn, a quilt of red and gold lay with two older females sitting upon it, enjoying the sun and apparently waiting for him.

Byron and the three other males walked out of the back door and across the patio to meet him. The leader pointed toward a small cement apron that had been poured, smoothed, and framed neatly beside the patio, a metal bike rack embedded within it. This already held numerous bicycles of all sizes. Nodding, Razor pulled up to an empty spot beside the rack and parked the cyclotron.

Cutting the engine, he reached up and pulled his helmet off. Immediately, he was hit with the sound of bird song, horses neighing and cows lowing . . . no disturbing techno noise to be found. He drew in a deep lung full of fresh air and sighed it out.

Smiling at Byron, he set the security on his bike, habit asserting itself despite knowing no one would touch the bike, then climbing off, setting his helmet on the seat before walking up to the males.

"Good day to you, Razor," Byron greeted him with a warm smile and a pawshake. "We will have our discussion here in the garden. I think it will help your lessons if you're in a place that will quiet your active mind and put it in a more receptive state which will allow you to concentrate better on what you need to learn."

"Good day to you, too, sir" Razor returned the greeting, though he was a little leery about what these so called 'lessons' might be about. He followed the males as they led him toward the quilt and bid him to sit as they did the same beside the females. Razor dropped into a cross-legged position a little apart from the group.

"Before we begin whatever it is we're going to do, Commander Feral requested an update," Razor spoke first.

Byron nodded. "We have been preparing all living creatures for what is to come."

Razor blinked in confused surprise. "Huh?"

The Wiccan leader smiled, mildly amused by the young tom's expression.

In a gentle but lecturing tone, he explained, "Nature and our kind have been in constant communication with each other for centuries. With this calamity heading for us, we here and all others like us around the world reached out with our joint energies and warned all living creatures and plants to prepare to vanish when our enemies arrive. When we give a certain signal the animals will seek secluded hiding places they can disappear within and be safe, even the birds. Though the trees cannot move, they and all the plants will stop growing and/or retreat if they are able to, until the threat is gone. In this way, our world will suffer less harm and be able to recover more quickly once the invaders are defeated."

The SWAT Kat could only gape at them. It took his mind a much longer time to grasp they were dead serious about this ability, but it was way beyond the realm of anything he could accept as remotely possible.

"Uh . . . that's . . . uh . . . incredible . . . I didn't know such a thing was possible," he finally managed to say, rather lamely.

One of the females, looking to be around her late sixties, smiled gently at him. He knew her name as Juno. "That is understandable Razor as it isn't known outside the magic users."

That statement alone told Razor he was now considered one of them. He felt uneasy about that new revelation and wasn't certain he liked it at all but shelved his reservations and listened to what she had to say.

"We were given this sacred trust by Ceridwen, the goddess of rebirth, transformation, and inspiration. It is our task in life to insure her land, animals, and people thrive and remain healthy despite any adversity. Whether Kat made or alien in nature."

Razor blinked. "A Goddess gave you this task? When was this?"

Juno showed no sign of being annoyed with his interruptions as she smoothly answered his question. "Yes she did and it was at the dawn of time when we first became aware that there was more in life than kill, eat, and mate. Be patient my dear. All will be revealed."

"Sorry. Uhm, can I ask one more question first?" He asked hesitantly. She nodded. "Well if a Goddess set you a task to keep our world healthy and safe, doesn't that fly in the face of modern technology that isn't always on nature's side? Is she against modernity and should we be worried about her as well as this new enemy?"

Juno gently patted his paw. "That's a perfectly legitimate concern and I'll answer as best I can so you'll understand. Still smiling warmly, she shook out her long, reddish-blond hair making it sweep across her chest with the motion.

"The Goddess understands that intelligent creatures must move forward if they are to thrive and if that means using technology and science to do that, then she has no issues with it. But then that is why she has her servants insure that very desire to advance our world forward doesn't destroy her works at the same time. So she laid in some checks and balances. We are one of those checks. Our mission is simple. We insure the planet does not suffer needlessly from Kat Kind's personal drives and desires. We are the shepherds that keep our world clean and liveable for all the living things upon it. Which is why our world continues to flourish despite the wars and natural disasters that have befallen it over the ages. If you haven't noticed, Razor, Aristal is still mostly wild with only small areas being inhabited by civilization."

"Actually, I did know that . . . learned it from school, but never thought about why we'd never over run the planet by now. When I did consider it once some years ago, I attributed it to our more slower breeding rate, the virulent diseases that swept through off and on over the years, and the many conflicts that caused significant losses," Razor said, thoughtfully.

The group chuckled but they weren't laughing at him he noted, which would have pissed him off, but more at what he'd said.

"And that would be correct as seen from a purely scientific viewpoint but the true reason is far simpler but more unbelievable to you. All that happens to our world is orchestrated by the laws set down by Ceridwen. She decreed that our population would not be allowed to spread too far nor be damaged too much. Per her instructions handed down through our ancestors, we have kept her laws and followed them verbatim. However, when our efforts fail to halt over crowding and violence engendered by it, the magic of Aristal takes over to prune it back. If that means allowing pestilence and technology to run unchecked for a bit then that is what it will do. Once the level set by Ceridwen is regained, then it goes back to sleep and our shepherding duties are begun anew."

"Are you saying our world is sentient?" Razor blurted, totally shocked and not certain he'd heard her right.

"Not in the way you mean, Razor. It is not a thinking being but it does have a 'setting' if you pardon me using a more technical term, which was put in place with the power and magic of Ceridwen to monitor the planet's health. In this way she insures her dictates are followed. We are but the shepherds, as I've already stated, that attempt to keep things in line with her desires if possible so that Aristal mustn't act at all. We've been fairly successful as our history tells us Aristal has only awaken three times since the beginning of our kind," Juno gently corrected him.

"Pardon me, but you were right when you said it was unbelievable! I can't fathom how something so important isn't in any of our texts nor are there any statues around to mention this Ceridwen person much less that Aristal is some kind of monitor." Razor shook his head.

"I well understand your skepticism, Razor, but that was Ceridwen's express wish. She had no desire to be worshiped as some deity," Byron picked up the explanation. "Her only goal was to leave behind her teachings to each world's magical beings so that they may keep their worlds in their original pristine condition more or less."

"But why? Why would she do this? What stake did she have in it?" Razor demanded to know. No one he knew that had that much power would just give it away.

Shaking her head, a different elder with black flowing hair tied with a band of fabric, that he knew as Gena, spoke, "You are too used to dealing with the power hungry evil that temporarily plague's your city. Ceridwen does this for purely personal reasons. During her travels with her fellow Gods, she witnessed how rampant technology and population without a brake could destroy worlds, reducing them to lifeless rock. This she wished to stop. Though her fellow Gods felt she was wasting her time, they didn't deter her as they loved her like a sister. So Ceridwen set about to save as many worlds as she could, claiming no gifts or thanks for doing it. She never remains on worlds she visits longer than it takes for her to impart her laws to those with magic, set a magical watch dog, that being the planet itself, then moving on. It is our task to do her bidding and spread her word to any who will listen and this is why our world looks as it does despite the onset of technology and science."

Razor remained still, trying to absorb this incredible bit of ancient history and reconcile it with what he knew and finding it hard to swallow.

Shaking his head, he finally asked, hesitantly, "What about worlds with no magical core or beings?"

"She doesn't tell us though we have had seers who have speculated she simply passes them by," Juno shrugged."

"Makes sense, I guess. But how do you know so much about this Ceridwen since obviously none of you were alive when she 'stopped by'?"

"To insure skeptics couldn't deny her existence or go against her dictates, she left behind a relic that literally speaks her words for all her servants to hear. It even has the capability to fit its language to whatever speaks to it. In this way, she insures her message is never altered or misunderstood despite language drifts over the centuries. I think you will marvel at it when you are taken to see it just as I did my first time." Juno's eyes gleamed with remembered reverence and excitement.

"You might even determine it is technological in nature but we think it is made entirely of magic as it pulses with it. Or it could be a combination of both. You are the first techno-mage we've had in centuries so perhaps you can give us that answer," Byron put in, a look of hopeful anticipation in his eyes.

Razor eyed everyone uneasily. He had a nasty suspicion. "Does that mean I will be seeing this relic today?"

"Yes." He felt a flash of fear but Byron was quick to reassure him. "Have no fear, my friend. It is a wonderous thing that only the magically endowed are allowed know about or see. It will not harm you. We will take you there after you've asked all you wish to know."

That didn't reassure Razor one little bit. "I take it that when I see this relic, I won't be able to tell anyone else about it, huh."

"We knew your were bright and would figure that out quickly." Byron beamed, proudly. "Yes the relic does insure it's secret is kept."

"Pardon me, if I seem skeptical about that. So how does this thing accomplish buttoning a person's lips on the subject? And just for the record, I don't like the idea of something messing inside my head."

"That's a perfectly normal reaction, Razor but trust us, everyone here has gone through this initiation without harm," Byron promised.

"Even the kittens?" Razor demanded, not liking this a bit.

"Yes, even our young ones. No harm comes to them, only knowledge. All you feel is a warmth, then you hear the voice of Ceridwen telling you her laws, she imparts the training you need which is different for each person because magical abilities are varied, and finishes with a magical block that inhibits you from speaking about this to anyone who is not magical. And that's it. The light vanishes and you feel no different except for perhaps suffering a mild dizziness as your mind works to absorb everything she's imparted to you."

"But that means this thing can think to some degree if it can do that," Razor objected, fascinated despite himself.

"It seems that way but again we don't know for certain." Byron shrugged. "However, it is hoped you might provide us an answer to that question at last."

Razor had risen to his feet suddenly, tension singing in his veins.

Byron rose as well but didn't touch the SWAT Kat. "It won't harm you, Razor, I swear! I have never lied to you, have I?"

"No . . . " Razor gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Then believe me when I say this is necessary and will do the training you require within minutes rather than days, weeks, or months, which, you'll admit, we have no time for. Please understand, you would have had to do this even if there had been no enemy coming for us. It was planned to approach you within the next year anyway. The secrecy part is very necessary to ensure the continuance of our people and the magical protection of our world. None may shirk that duty," Byron told him gravely. "And duty and protecting the people of our world even if it is only one of its cities is something you have already given your life to as a SWAT Kat. This is but another such duty. I know you would not turn your back no matter how uncomfortable or afraid of it you might be."

"No, I won't but I sure don't like how I seem to have been railroaded right into it," Razor grumbled, resigned and a little shocked to learn he was doomed to do this even before they'd found out about the menace facing them.

Byron gave him an understanding look but felt it wise not to comment.

Razor looked away from the group watching him to stare blindly off toward the rolling fields of grain. And it seemed like such a nice day too, he thought miserably. What's worse, I can't even tell my best friend anything about this ... and Feral...what the hell do I tell him?


End file.
